fKilM  ff^ffff/.  f. 


THE 


^7 


PILLAR  OF  FIEE; 


srael  in 


BY  REV.  J.  H.  INGRAIIAM, 

JSertor  of  (Cfjrfst  CTfturcft,  anti  of  <St.  Cfjomis'  tyzll,  ??olln  cSprings, 
AUTHOE,  OP 

"TH*1  PRINCE  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  DAVID." 


NEW- YORK: 
PUDNEY  &  RUSSELL,  PUBLISHERS, 

IV    JOHN-STREET. 

1859. 


Entered  according  tc  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1859, 

BY  PUDNET  &  RUSSELL, 

In  the  Clerk's  Offic*  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Southern 
IMstrict  of  New  York 


/SSI 

THE  MEX  OF  ISRAEL, 

SONS    OF 
ABRAHAM,    ISAAC,   AND   JACOB, 

KINDRED    OF    MOSES, 
THE     GREAT     LAWGIVER     AND     FRIEND     OF     GODC 


IS  INSCRIBED  BY  THE  AUTHOR  ; 

WITH   THE   PRAYER, 

THAT   YOU,    OF   THIS   GENERATION,    WHO   ARE   DISPERSED   IN   ALL  THE   EARTH, 
MAY  BEHOLD  AND   FOLLOW  THE  LIGHT   OF 

THE    CKOSS, 

AS    YOUR   FATHERS    FOLLOWED 

THE     PILLAR     OF     FIRE, 

AND    ENTER    AT    LAST    THE    REAL     CANAAN, 

UNDER    THE    TRUE    JOSHUA, 
JESUS,    THE    SON    OF    ABRAHAM, 

WHO   ALSO   WAS 

THE   SON   OF   GOD. 


M12039 


AUTHOR'S  CHAPTER  TO  THE  READER. 


THE  idea  of  illustrating  scenes  of  that  period  of  the  history  of 
in  which  the  Israelites  were  held  in  Jiondage  by  her 
kings,  and  presenting  it  from  a  point  of  view  outside  of  the 
Mosaic  narrative,  yet  strictly  harmonizing  therewith,  occurred  to 
the  writer  some  years  ago. 

In  view  of  his  object,  he  has  carefully  studied  the  history  and 
chronology  of  JSgjpt,  and  endeavored  to  inform  his  mind  upon 
the  manners,  customs,  laws,  religion,  and  polity  of  the  ancient 
Egyptians,  so  far  as  to  aid  him  in  an  intelligent  and  practical 
execution  of  his  work. 

The  difficulties  which  the  question  of  dynasty,  and  of  indi 
vidual  reigns  have  presented,  will  be  understood  by  the  Egyp 
tian  student.  Whatsoever  chronology  or  theory  the  author 
might  finally  decide  upon,  he  saw  would  be  open  to  the  objec 
tions  of  adherents  to  the  opposite  school. 

After  a  thorough  examination  of  the  subject  of  the  dynasties, 
*he  author  has  followed,  chiefly,  the  chronology  and  theory  of 
Volan  and  Seyffarth,  whose  opinions  are  sustained  by  the  ablest 
cholars. 

But  this  work  is  by  no  m.c.ans  a  "Book  on  Egypt."  It  pro 
Jesses  to  have  nothing  more  to  do  with  Egyptian  antiquities, 
Mythology,  chronology,  and  history,  than  these  naturally  assem 
ble  about  his  subject,  which  is,  mainly,  "  The  Bondage  and  De 
liverance  of  the  Children  of  Israel  from  the  Land  of  Egypt." 

The  plan  upon  which  the  author  has  constructed  his  work  is 


6 

similar  to  that  of  "  The  Prince  of  the  House  of  David ;"  viz., 
by  presenting  the  scenes  and  events  he  would  describe,  through 
a  series  of  letters,  alleged  to  be  written  by  one  who  is  supposed 
to  witness  with  his  own  eyes  what  he  is  made  t^  place  before 
those  of  the  reader. 

As  in  "  The  Prince  of  the  House  of  David,"  ?  young  Jewish 
maiden  is  supposed  to  witness  many  of  the  m^st  remarkable 
scenes  in  the  human  life  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  to  write  of  them 
to  her  father  in  Egypt,  so  in  the  present  work  a  y^ung  prince  of 
Phoenicia  is  made  the  medium  of  communicatioi-  between  the 
author  and  his  reader. 

This  prince/  SESOSTRIS,  the  son  of  the  king  and  ,queen  of 
Phoenicia,  upon  reaching  the  age  of  eight-and-twenty,  prepares 
to  go  into  Egypt,  for  the  purpose  of  studying  the  laws  and  arts, 
religion  and  government  of  that  country,  which,  at  this  period, 
was  the  most  powerful  kingdom  of  the  earth.  Mistress  of  wis 
dom,  learning,  and  letters,  she  drew  to  her  brilliant  court  youths 
nobles,  philosophers,  and  travellers  of  all  lands ;  as  in  Inter  cen 
turies,  even  in  her  decadence,  Greece  sent  her  scholars  there  t' 
be  perfected  in  the  sciences  and  philosophies  of  her  academies. 

Young  Sesostris  takes  leave  of  his  mother,  now  a  widower 
queen,  and  embarks  in  the  royal  galley  at  the  marble  pier  ot  the 
palace  of  the  Isle  of  Tyre.  He  bears  letters  to  Amense,  the 
queen  of  Egypt,  commending  him  to  her  courtesy. 

Between  Egypt  and  Phoenicia  existed  bonds,  not  only  oi 
friendly  alliance,  but  of  relationship.  But  few  centuries  had 
passed  since  a  ting  of  Phoenicia,  at  the  head  of  a  vast  army  ot 
Syrians,  invaded  Egypt,  and  taking  Memphis,  set  up  a  foreign 
throne  in  the  valley  of  the  Nile. 

Under  this  dynasty  of  conquerors,  Joseph  ruled  in  Egypt,  and 
Jacob,  dwelt ;  for,  being  Syrians,  these  new  Pharaohs  regarded 
with  partiality  the  descendants  of  Abraham,  who  was  also  "  a 
..Syrian." 

But  after  the  death  of  Joseph,  not  many  years  elapsed  ere  the 


AUTHORS  CHAPTER  TO  THE  READER.        7 

Theban  kings  of  Upper  Egypt  invaded  the  Mempliitic  realm  of 
the  Nile,  and,  overturning  the  power  of  this  foreign  dynasty, 
friendly  to  the  sons  of  Israel,  re-established  the  native  Egyptian 
monarchy,  "  which  knew  not  Joseph,"  nor  recognized  the 
descendants  of  Abraham  dwelling  in  the  land.  On  the  contrary 
looking  upon  them  as  of  similar  lineage  with  the  expelled  Syrian 
or  Assyrian  invaders,  as  they  were  equally  called,  the  new  mon 
arch  and  conqueror,  AMOSIS,  at  once  placed  them  in  subjection, 
and  oppressed  them  with  a  bitter  bondage. 

This  new  Egyptian  monarchy,  under  Pharaoh-Amosis,  came 
into  power  again,  some  years  after  the  death  of  Joseph,  during 
which  period  the  children  of  Israel  had  increased  to  a  great 
jpeople.  For  the  space  of  seventy  years  their  oppression  was 
continued  by  successive  kings,  until,  under  Amenophis  I.  (the 
father  of  Amense,  "  Pharaoh's  daughter"),  the  alarming  increase 
of  the  numbers  of  the  Hebrews,  led  this  monarch  to  take  harsher 
measures  with  them,  "for  the  more  they  afflicted  them,  the 
more  they  multiplied  and  grew."*  Fearing  for  the  stability  ol 
his  kingdom,  if  they  should  rise  upon  their  taskmasters,  and 
remembering  the  Syrian  shepherd-kings,  who  had  so  lately  ruled 
Egypt,  he  issued  the  command  for  the  destruction  of  all  their 
male  children,  as  soon  as  born ! 

At  the  time  of  the  promulgation  of  this  sanguinary  edict, 
Amense  was  a  young  princess,  to  whose  feet  the  little  ark,  con 
taining  the  infant  Moses,  God-directed,  came. 

The  theory  of  Egyptian  chronology  which  we  have  decided  ' 
to  follow,  represents  this  princess  as  the  Queen  of  Egypt,  at  the 
time  when  we  present  the  Prince  Sesostris  of  Tyre  to  the  reader. 
Under  her  wise  rule,  Egypt  had  attained  the  culmination  of  its 
glory  and  power.  Her  father,  having  died,  after  reigning 
twenty-two  years,  she  began  her  brilliant  reign  when  Moses  was 
twelve  years  of  age — B.  C.  about  1560.  She  had  been  upon 

*  Exodus  ii. 


S  AUTHOR'S  CHAPTER  TO  THE  READER. 

the  throne  twenty-one  years,  when  the  Prince  Sesostris  prepares 
to  visit  her  court. 

We  will  not  longer  delay  presenting  the  reader  to  the  Letters 
of  Prince  Sesostris,  trusting  that  this  feeble  attempt  to  illustrate 
one  of  the  most  interesting  periods  of  human  histon^as  it  might 
have  appeared  to  a  stranger  in  Egypt,  may  lead  to  a  study  of 
the  Old  Testament  by  many  who  are  unfamiliar  with  its  pages  \.-> 
and  also  show  how,  in  his  dealings  with  Pharaoh,  God  wielded 
not  merely  an  arbitrary  power,  but  that,  in  all  the  "  mighty 
works"  He  did,  He  was  striking  at  Egypt's  gods,  and  asserting 
His  own  Divinity,  as  the  Only  Living  and  True  God,  "  besides 
Whom  there  is  none  else." 

THE  AUTHOR. 
HOLLY  SPRINGS,  MISSISSIPPI,  ) 
Jan.  1,  1859.  \ 


NOTE. — The  Egyptian  scholar,  the  critic,  and  the  Biblical  student 
are  referred  to  the  "  Concluding  Essay  by  the  Author,"  in  the  Ap 
pendix,  at  the  close  of  the  volume. 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS. 

LETTERS  OF  SESOSTRIS  TO  QUEEN  EPIPHIA. 
LETTEE    I. 

Otf,  the  City  of  the  Sun — Grandeur  of  Egypt — Emotions  at  the 
sight  of  its  wonders  of  art  and  scenes  of  beauty — The  Queen  of 
the  ancient  house  of  Pharaoh — Her  son,  Prince  Remeses  (Moses) — 
Tyre,  and  its  traffic  with  distant  lands — Damascus — Voyage  from 
Tyre  to  Pelusium — Scene  at  the  departure  of  the  fleet — The  Nile — 
Its  encroachments — First  view  of  Egypt — Meeting  with  Egyptian 
war-ship — Invitation  to  visit  the  Court  of  Queen  Amense — Descrip 
tion  of  Egyptian  war-ship — Banquet  on  the  Admiral's  ship — Singu 
lar  custom — Panorama  of  the  Nile — pp.  25 — 38. 

LETTER   II. 

Love  for  native  land — Avenue  of  temples  and  palaces — Sublime 
temple  of  the  Sun — Emblem  of  Osiris.— Artificial  canal — Gardens  and 
circular  lake — Gathering  of  philosophers  and  scholars — Obelisks — 
Message  from  Queen  Amense — Great  temple  of  Osiris — Splendid 
approach  to  the  City  of  the  Sun — Row  of  sphinxes — Osiris  and 
lsjs — Colossi — An  Arabian  charger — Magnificent  scene — Spectacle 
of  architectural  grandeur — Beautiful  palace — Religious  notions  of 
the  Egyptians — Personal  appearance  of  the  Lord-prince  Remeses 
(Moses) — -View  of  the  Desert — Hebrew  laborers — Interview  with 
Remeses— pp.  39—52. 

i 

LETTER   III. 

Climate  of  Egypt — Eternal  sunshine  and  crystalline  atmosphere — 
Costume  of  the  Egyptian  prince — Hieroglyphic  writing — Legend 

10 


10  CONTENTS. 

of  the  Obelisk  of  Mitres — More  of  the  personal  appearance  of 
Remeses  (Moses) — The  Hebrew  prince  Abram  (the  Patriarch) — His 
personal  appearance — His  tomb — Interior  of  Egyptian  palace — 
Egyptian  Mythology — Mnevis,  the  sacred  ox — Legend  of  Osiris — 
Pantheism — Apis,  or  the  sacred  bull — Out-of-door  life  at  midday — 
Hebrews,  under  their  taskmasters,  in  the  burning  sun — Prospect 
from  the  terrace  of  the  palace — Isle  of  Rhoda,  in  the  Nile — 
pp.  53—66. 

LETTER    IY. 

Palace  of  Remeses — Invitation  to  meet  the  Queen — Costume  of  a 
prince  of  Tyre — Egyptian  chariots  and  horses — Nubian  charioteer — 
Escort  of  the  Queen's  body-guard — Pleasure  chariots — The  Queen 
in  her  chariot — Beautiful  lake — Sphinxes — Royal  palace  described — 
The  throne-room — The  throne-chair  of  ivory — Its  footstool  and 
canopy — Assembly  of  military  princes — Magnificent  attire,  and 
splendid  appearance  of  Remeses  (Moses) — Ceremony  of  presenta 
tion  to  the  Queen — Queen  Arnense ;  her  appearance  and  costume — 
Termination  of  the  audience — pp.  67 — 80. 

LETTEE    Y. 

Egyptian  magnificence — Egyptian  architecture — Osiride  pillars — 
Vastness  of  objects — Avenue  of  Sphinxes — Temple  of  the  god 
Horus — The  emblem  of  Hor-hat — Court  of  Colonnades — Grand 
hall — Rich  colors  in  architecture — Sculpture — Bass-reliefs — Splen 
did  temple — Chamber  of  art  and  beauty — Magnificent  review  of  the 
army  of  four  thousand  chariots  of  iron — A  warrior-prince  in  his 
war-chariot — Description  of  war-chariot — Ethiopian  slaves — Be 
wildering  spectacle — Military  and  civil  homage  to  the  Queen—  The 
Lord  of  Uz  (Job)  described — Ceremonies  preparatory  to  a  royal 
banquet — The  banquet — Costly  wine-goblets — Arabian  dancing- 
girls — Jugglers — Guests  overcome  by  wine — pp.  81 — 98. 

LETTEE    YI. 
Visit  from  Prince  Remeses  (Moses) — Great  gate  of  the  city — 


CONTENTS.  11 

Phalanx  of  dark  Libyan  soldiers — Varied  accomplishments  of 
Remeses — Avenue  of  gardens,  villas,  and  lakes — Temples  in  circular 
lakes — Egyptian  field-laborers — Hebrew  brick-makers — Description 
of  this  u  mysterious"  race — Account  of  the  mode  of  their  toil — 
Cruelty  of  their  taskmasters — Emotions  of  pity  at  the  sight  of  their 
sufferings — The  lash! — Beautiful  Hebrew  girls — Dwellings  of  brick 
makers — Joseph — Scene  at  the  "  Fountain  of  Strangers" — Distant 
view  of  the  City  of  the  Sun— Of  Raamses — Of  the  pyramids— Of 
the  illimitable  desert — Wounded  Hebrew  youth  at  the  Fountain  of 
Strangers — Majestic  old  Hebrew  beaten  by  taskmasters — Touching 
scene— pp.  99—114. 

LETTER    VII. 

Interview  with  the  venerable  Ben  Isaac  at  the  "Well  of  the 
Strangers — Raainses,  the  Treasure-city — Joseph's  granary — Exqui 
site  temple  of  Apis — Beautiful  young  Hebrew  girl  pursued  by  the 
taskmaster — Her  rescue  and  story — The  punishment  of  the  task 
master — Intolerable  burdens  of  the  Hebrews — Garden  of  Flowers 
for  the  use  of  the  temple  of  Apis — Account  of  the  Syrian  prince 
A b ram  (Abraham) — Of  Melchisedec — Of  the  Ilyksos,  or  Shepherd- 
Kings — Their  conquest  of  Egypt — The  Princess  Sara  (wife  of  Abra 
ham) — Prince  Jacob  (the  Patriarch)  and  his  twelve  sons — Joseph — 
Pharaoh's  dream — Elevation  of  Joseph — Monuments  of  his  power — 
pp.  115—129. 

LETTER    VIII. 

Eagles  of  prey — Account  of  the  Hebrews — Imposing  funeral  o 
the  Patriarch  Jacob — His  powerful  and  able  government — Over 
throw  of  the  dynasty  of  the  Shepherd-Kings — Dynasty  of  the 
Thebaid — Flourishing  condition  of  the  Hebrews  in  the  .and  of 
Goshen,  under  the  government  of  Joseph — Aspirations  after  the 
ONE  GOD — Reduction  of  the  Hebrews  to  servitude — Their  rapid 
and  miraculous  increase — The  massacre  of  their  male  infants — 
Courageous  affection  of  the  Hebrew  mothers — Egyptian  nurses 
sympathize  with  them — Infants  hid — Queen  Amense's  humanity — 
Courage  and  wisdom  of  many  of  the  Hebrews — Exciting  ride  past 


12  CONTENTS. 

Joseph's  ruined  palace — Jacob's  Well — The  plain  of  the  Hebrew 
brick-makers — Death  of  a  Hebrew  under  his  taskmasters — Sculp 
tured  obelisk  of  Queen  Amense — Emotions  of  Syrian  painters  at 
sight  of  their  prince — pp.  130 — 144. 

LETTER    IX. 

Reflections  on  the  degradation  of  the  Hebrews — Hebrew  pages 
and  maidens  in  the  service  of  Egyptian  nobles — Amram,  the  palace 
gardener — Contrast  between  the  physiognomy  of  the  Egyptians  and 
Hebrews — Remarkable  likeness  of  Prince  Remeses  to  the  Israel 
ites — Description  of  the  Lord-prince  Mceris — He  seeks  a  quarrel 
with  Remeses — Illness  of  Queen  Amense — Filial  devotion  of  Reme 
ses — Magnificent  prospect  of  the  Nile,  the  Plain  of  the  Pyramids, 
the  City  of  the  Sun,  Jizeh  and  Memphis — Myriads  of  human  beings 
at  labor — Naval  review  and  sham-battle — Exciting  scene  of  con 
tending  thousands — pp.  145 — 157. 

LETTEE    X. 

Recovery  of  Queen  Amense — Gropings  after  the  True  God — 
Pleasure-galley  of  the  Nile — Voluptuous  ease — River  chant — Phoa- 
nician  Mythology  and  Learning — Procession  of  the  Dead — Tradi 
tion  of  the  universal  Deluge  and  of  Noe-menes  (Noah) — Myths  of 
Arn.mon,  and  of  Belus  the  Warrior-god  and  Founder  of  Babylon — 
Nirnrod's  temple — Baalbec — Worship  of  the  Sun — Myths  of  Apis, 
Horns,  Adonis,  and  lo — Magnificent  worship  of  Osiris  and  Isis— 
Mysteries  of  the  temple  of  Tyre — Baal-phegor — Pillars  of  the  West 
— Martels  of  foreign  lands,  and  islands  of  wonderful  beauty — Men 
formed  like  monkeys — The  edge  of  the  world- -A  sea-storm — Gulf 
down  which  the  full  sea  plunges — Legends  of  the  form  of  the 
Earth;  of  its  foundation;  of  its  motion  through  space — pp.  158 
—172. 

LETTER    XI. 

The  beautiful  Isle  of  Rhoda — Prince  Moeris  and  his  favorite  lion — 
Refinement  of  Egyptians — Polite  observances  at  the  reception  ot 


CONTENTS.  13 

visitors — Parting  between  Queen  Amense  and  Remeses — Military 
emblems — Magnificent  display  of  the  Egyptian  "tented  hosts" — 
Striking  religious  and  military  display  of  the  army — Columns 
formed  of  trophies  taken  in  battle — The  chief  priest  of  Mars — His 
gorgeous  attire  and  imposing  ceremonies — Gigantic  statue  of  Mars, 
in  full  armor — Offerings  of  the  soldiers — Invocation  by  the  High- 
priest — Libations  for  the  army — Clouds  of  incense — Appearance 
of  the  beautiful  daughters  of  the  priest — The  musical  sistrum — 
Sacred  offices  in  the  temple  filled  by  women — The  Virgins  of  the 
Sun — Social  position  of  Egyptian  women — Thrilling  martial  hymn 
chauntecl  by  the  priests,  the  army,  and  the  maiden — Sacrifice — 
Remeses  reviews  the  army — Ethiopia — Description  of  an  Egyp 
tian  army ;  its  tactics  and  weapons — The  nations  composing  it — 
pp.  1T3— 190. 

LETTER    XII. 

Immense  military  force  of  Egypt — Sublime  sunrise — Morning 
hymn — Gala  of  the  resurrection  of  Osiris — Festivals  to  the  gods — 
Visit  to  the  Queen — Glimpse  of  dark-eyed  Egyptian  girls — Their 
tasteful  dress — Life,  manners,  and  customs  of  high-born  Egyptian 
ladies — Their  high  social  estimation — Egyptians  can  have  but  one 
wife — Occupations  of  ladies — Classifications  of  Egyptian  society — 
The  habitations  of  the  Egyptians — Family  customs  and  gatherings — 
House  of  the  Admiral  Pathromenes — Home-life  of  the  Egyptians — 
pp.  191—208. 

LETTER    XIII. 

Ancient  worship  of  the  gods  on  Libanus — Natural  temples — 
Legend  of  the  weeping  for  Tammuz — Unsatisfactory  nature  of  the 
worship  of  idols — More  aspirations  and  gropings  after  the  true 
God — Where  is  the  Infinite? — There  can  be  but  one  God! — His 
nature — Body-guard  rowers  of  Prince  Remeses — The.ir  captain — 
Nubian  slaves — Great  quay,  or  landing-mart  of  Memphis — Mer 
chants  from  all  parts  of  the  world — Street  lined  with  temples — 
Avenue  of  statues  and  columns — Memphis — Gradual  change  of  the 
true  religion  into  idolatry — The  four  deified  bulls  of  Egypt — Sacred 
birds,  serpents,  scorpions,  vegetables,  and  monsters — pp.  209 — 225. 


14:  CONTENTS. 

LETTER    XIY. 

Majestic  temple  of  the  sacred  bull,  Apis — Tyrian  mariner  torn  to 
pieces  by  the  Egyptians  for  ignorantly  killing  a  sacred  cat — Imposing 
worship  of  the  deified  bull — Description  of  the  sacred  animal — 
Costly  offerings  at  his  shrine — An  omen! — Tasteful  palace  of  the 
hierarch  of  the  temple — Transmigration  of  souls — Brute  incarna 
tion  of  deity — Tradition  concerning  Osiris — Foreshadowing  of  the 
coming  of  the  Invisible  upon  earth  in  human  form — Lamentations 
upon  the  death  of  a  deified  bull — His  obsequies — Pomp  and  rejoic 
ings  over  a  new  god,  Apis — Mausoleum  of  the  Serapis — Sarco 
phagi — The  Sarapeum— The  Lady  Nelisa— Beautiful  daughter  of  the 
priest  of  Mars — The  Lake  of  the  Dead — Embalmers  and  their  art — 
Customs  attending  death  and  embalmment — Funeral  procession  of 
Eathmes,  "  lord  of  the  royal  gardens" — The  venerable  head-gar 
dener,  Amram — The  baris,  or  sacred  boat — pp.  226 — 244. 

LETTER    XV. 

Conclusion,  of  funeral  ceremonies  of  the  lord  of  the  royal  gar 
dens — The  Sacred  Way — Processions  of  mourners — Avenue  to  the 
tombs — The  "  dead-life"  of  the  Egyptians — Awful  ceremony  of  tho 
judgment  of  the  dead — Burial  of  the  unworthy  dead  prohibited — 
False  accusers  stoned  away — Myth  as  to  the  state  of  the  soul  after 
death — Metempsychosis — The  mystery  of  the  tribunal  of  Osiris — 
Reception  of  the  justified  soul  into  the  celestial  kingdom — Doom  of 
the  reprobate  soul — Monkeys,  emblems  of  the  god  Thoth — The  gate 
of  the  pyramids — Colossal  Andro-sphinx,  or  Watcher  before  the 
pyramids — Beautiful  temple  of  Osiris — The  twin  pyramids,  Cheops 
and  Chephres — pp.  245 — 261. 

LETTER    XVI. 

Continuation  of  description  of  the  Pyramids — Colossal  monolith 
of  Horus — Perilous  ascent  of  Cheops — Prospect  from  a  resting-place 
upon  the  pyramid,  four  hundred  feet  in  air — A  prince  of  Midian 
falls  from  Chephres — Magnificent  view  from  the  top  of  Cheops,  six 
hundred  feet  in  air— Tombs  of  kings — The  Giants  before  the  Flood 


CONTENTS.  15 

founders  of  the  great  pyramids — Ancient  appearance  of  pyramids — 
Greater  duration  of  human  life — The  third  pyramid  built  by  Amun, 
son  of  Noah — Egyptian  tradition  of  Noah  and  his  sons — Entomb 
ment  of  Noah  in  Cheops,  and  the  mourning  of  the  Nations — Ver 
dant  plain  ot  the  Nile — The  desolation  of  the  Desert — Jizeh — 
Raamses  and  Pythom,  the  treasure-cities — The  smiling  land  oi 
Goshen — Prophecy  of  an  Unknown  World,  in  the  West — The  sacred 
papyri — Descent  of  the  pyramid — Luxora,  the  beautiful  daughtei 
of  the  high-priest — Her  legend  of  the  Emerald  Table  of  Hermes— 
Osiria— pp*  262 — 276. 

LETTER    XVII. 

The  lovely  Osiria's  legend  of  King  Saurid — Stately  Hebrew 
woman — Tradition  of  the  construction  of  the  larger  pyramid— Its 
foundations — Its  gates — Its  covering  of  silk — Its  treasure-chambers 
and  magical  guardians  of  stone  and  agate — Miriam,  the  papyrus- 
copier — Her  striking  resemblance  to  Prince  Remeses — The  pyramid 
penetrated  by  a  Phoenician  conqueror — Discovery  of  treasures — 
Mighty  sarcophagus  of  the  dead  monarch  of  two  worlds,  NOAH — 
Chamber  of  the  precession  of  the  equinoxes — Hall  of  the  Universe — 
Pyramids  built  before  the  Deluge — Configuration  of  the  seven 
planets  as  at  the  Creation — Astrology — Enigma  of  the  Phoenix — 
The  riddle  solved — Nelisa — Interview  with  the  stately  Miriam  in  the 
Hall  of  Books— pp.  277—293. 

LETTEE   XVIII. 

Tidings  from  Prince  Rerneses  and  the  army — Antediluvian  origin 
of  the  pyramids — The  barbaric  King  of  Ethiopia,  Occhoris — His 
body-guard  of  Bellardines — His  sacrilege  in  the  temple  of  the 
sacred  bull  at  Thebes — Pious  vengeance  of  the  people — Visit  of 
Remeses  to  the  tomb  of  his  father — Remarkable  conversation  with 
Miriam,  the  papyrus-copier — Description  of  Miriam — Ben  Isaac  and 
the  lad  Israel — Contempt  of  the  Egyptians  for  Israel — Religious  and 
political  degradation  of  the  Hebrews — Miriam  declares  the  mystery 
of  the  God  of  her  fathers — Her  denunciation  of  idol-worship — 
Miriam's  occupation — The  winged  asps — Interview  with  the  Prince 


16  CONTENTS. 

of  Uz,  Ra-Iub  (Job) — Job  speaks  of  the  ALMIGHTY! — Seems  in 
spired  of  God — Tradition  of  a  Day's-man,  or  mediator — Job  con 
vinces  Sesostris  that  there  is  but  one  God — pp.  294 — 313. 

LETTEE    XIX. 

Intelligence  from  Ethiopia — Remeses  a  conqueror — Great  spoils — 
He  enters  Memphis  in  triumphal  array— His  filial  piety — The  cap 
tive  Ethiopian  king — Victorious  army  of  one  hundred  thousand 
men  in  triumphal  procession — The  Prince  of  Egypt  in  his  war- 
chariot — Column  of  twelve  thousand  Ethiopian  captives — Descrip 
tion  of  the  bands  of  captives,  and  their  treatment — Invocation  of 
the  victors  in  the  great  temple  of  Pthah — Distinction  between 
captives  taken  in  war  and  the  Hebrews — pp.  314 — 330, 

LETTEE    XX. 

Delightful  climate— Indolence  and  leisure  by  day— Spirit  of  life 
and  enjoyment  reigns  at  night — Galley  of  a  noble  designedly  runs 
down  a  small  baris — Handsome  Hebrew — Another  startling  resem 
blance  to  Prince  Kemeses! — The  lad  Israel  again — Miriam,  the 
papyrus-copier,  the  sister  of  the  handsome  Hebrew — What  he  saw, 
in  boyhood,  beside  the  Nile — His  infant  brother  committed  to  the 
river — Subterranean  chambers  for  casting  images  of  the  gods — The 
Hebrew  gives  an  account  of  his  people  and  his  God — He  mourn? 
the  oppression  of  his  race — pp.  331 — 346. 

LETTEE    XXI. 

Thirty-fifth  birth-day  of  Prince  Remeses— Queen  Amense  pro 
poses  to  abdicate  in  his  favor — The  Hebrew  page,  Israel — Melan 
choly  of  the  Queen — Prince  Moeris — Moving  interview  between  the 
Queen  and  Remeses — He  declines  the  throne  of  Egypt — A  secret! — 
Prince  Moeris  seeks  the  ruin  of  Remeses — A  bribe'! — Suspicion! — 
Terrible  agitation  of  the  Queen — Attempt  of  Mceris  to  poison 
Amense  at  a  banquet — Another  bribe — A  mystery! — Remeses  con~ 
sents  to  accept  the  sceptre — pp.  347 — 363. 


CONTENTS.  17 

LETTEE    XXII. 

Remeses  prepares  for  his  coronation  by  an  initiation  into  the 
mysteries  of  the  temple — Power  and  influence  of  Egyptian  priest 
hood — Daily  public  duties  of  the  Queen — Her  attire — Her  bathing 
and  dressing  rooms — Skilful  adornment  of  their  hair  by  Egyptian 
ladies — The  Queen  acts  as  chief  priestess — Her  delightful  hospitali 
ties — Beautiful  trait  of  character — Proposed  succession  of  Eemeses 
— Solemn  vigil,  and  other  ceremonies  of  initiation — Remeses  shut 
out  from  the  world  in  the  gloom  of  the  mysterious  temple — Israel - 
isis  with  a  message  from  the  Queen — The  Celestial  Sea — A  courier 
from  Moeris — Great  distress  and  singular  manner  of  the  Queen — A 
terrible  secret — An  impatient  follower — ^pp.  364 — 380. 

LETTER    XXIII. 

Revelations — Letter  from  Moeris — His  haughty  demand — Is  Re 
meses  the  son  of  Pharaoh's  Daughter  ? — Another  letter  and  another 
haughty  demand  from  Mceris — Still  another — A  doubt! — «*An  inves 
tigation — Amense  never  a  mother! — Her  descent  to  the  Nile  to 
bathe — The  little  ark  of  basket-work  and  beautiful  child — The 
princess  adopts  it — A  threat! — The  Queen  unfolds  the  terrible 
secret — Her  agony  of  fear — Her  touching  story  of  the  discovery  of 
the  infant  Remeses — She  gains  resolution  and  defies  Moeris — Re 
meses  a  Hebrew ! — pp.  381 — 397. 

LETTEE    XXIY. 

Mournful  reflections — Sacred  poem  by  Remeses,  being  scenes  in 
the  life  of  Job — Remeses  discovers  all — A  sirocco  of  the  soul — lie 
narrates  the  mysterious  scenes  of  his  initiation — Startling  spec 
tacles — Overwhelming  displays  of  enchantment  and  magic — Myste 
rious  journey  beneath  the  pyramids — labyrinthine  catacomb — 
March  of  Time  through  the  heavens — Remeses  alone  beside  the 
altar — Amense  not  his  mother! — His  vision  in  the  dark  chamber  of 
the  pyramids — The  massacre  of  the  Hebrew  infants — Scene  in  the 
Hebrew  hut — The  mother  and  child — The  babe  committed  to  the 
Nile — The  little  maid — The  beautiful  lady,  Pharaoh's  Daughter — 
The  Hebrew  nurse — The  image-caster — pp.  398 — 414. 


18  CONTENTS. 


LETTEK    XXV. 

Continuation  of  vision  of  Remeses — Himself  the  child  of  his 
vision — Mysterious  voices  in  the  vaulted  chamber  of  the  pyramid — 
Mocking  eyes — He  flees — Tender  interview  between  the  Queen  and 
Remeses — He  narrates  his  vision — The  secret  fully  unveiled — Dis 
covery  of  a  father,  mother,  brother,  sister — Illness  of  the  Queen — 
She  assembles  the  councils  of  the  nation — Remeses  renounces  th« 
throne — Amense  adopts  Moeris — Her  death — Amram — The  mother 
of  Remeses — Miriam — Aaron — Egypt  in  mourning — Remeses  as 
sumes  his  Hebrew  name,  Moses — Arts  of  magicians  and  sorcerers— 
pp.  415—431. 


LETTERS  BETWEEN"  REMESES  (MOSES)  AND  OTHER 
PERSONS. 

LETTEE   I. 

Moses  beholds  the  thousands  of  his  countrymen  under  the  lash 
of  the  taskmasters — A  prophecy — Visits  Tyro  and  is  cordially  re 
ceived  by  Queen  Epiphia — Tyre — Damascus — He  meets  the  vener 
able  Prince  of  Uz  (Job)— Nuptials  of  Sesostris— pp.  432—435. 

LETTEE    II. 

Defeat  of  the  King  of  Cyprus  by  Sesostris — Moses  in  Syria — H« 
journeys  to  sit  at  the  feet  of  Job — Cruelty  of  Pharaoh  (Moeris) — 
The  Lake  Amense — pp.  436 — 438. 

LETTEE   III. 

Moses  visits  Job — The  wisdom  of  Job — His  wealth  and  power — 
Moses  writes  his  life — Job  leads  Moses  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
true  God— pp.  439—441.  • 


CONTENTS.  19 


LETTER    IY. 

Mceris  increases  the  burdens  of  the  Hebrews — Tradition  as  to 
the  terra  of  their  servitude — Nearly  accomplished — Moses,  in  Syria, 
yearns  to  be  with  his  brethren  in  Egypt — pp.  442 — 444. 


LETTEE   Y. 

Moses  determines  to  visit  Egypt — Receives  from  Job  the  his 
tory  of  the  Creation — Job's  piety  and  his  favor  with  God — Prayer 
the  path  to  the  throne  of  God — King  Sesostris  and  Queen  Tha- 
monda — Israelisis — pp.  445 — 448. 


LETTEE    YI. 

Moses  departs  for  Egypt — The  Illimitable  Sea — Reflections  upon 
the  infinity  of  God — A  storrn — Despair  of  passengers — Their  gods 
unavailing  to  save — Moses  invokes  the  true  God — The  storm  ceases 
—The  crowd  offer  divine  honors  to  Moses — His  anger  at  their 
sacrilege — He  arrives  in  Egypt — Is  in  the  bosom  01"  his  family — 
Oppression  of  the  Hebrews — Their  miraculous  increase — Tradition 
of  God's  revelation  of  Himself  to  Abram — A  miracle! — God's 
command  to  Abraham — His  obedience — God's  promise — The  ful 
ness  of  time  at  hand — Woman  of  salt — City  of  Salem — Moses 
strives  to  arouse  the  Hebrews — He  is  doubted  and  discredited — 
pp.  449—461. 

LETTEE    YII. 

Moses,  in  disguise,  sees  King  Moeris  amid  his  chief  captains — 
Terrible  cruelties  inflicted  upon  the  Hebrews — Taskmaster  pursues  a 
Hebrew  youth,  to  kill  him — Moses  slays  the  taskmaster — Comes 
upon  two  Hebrews  in  altercation — He  rebukes  them — They  threaten 
to  expose  him  to  Pharaoh  for  slaying  the  Egyptian — Prophetic  in 
spiration  of  Amram,  the  father  of  Moses — Moses  flees  from  Egypt 
—pp.  462—467. 


20  CONTENTS. 


LETTERS  OF  REMESES  OF  DAMASCUS  TO  HIS  FATHER, 
KING  SESOSTRIS. 

LETTEE    I. 

The  young  prince  visits  Egypt  —  The  acts  of  the  Egyptian  kings  — 
The  reign  of  Moeris  —  He  constructs  an  immense  lake  -  Inaugu 
ration  of  a  temple  —  Splendid  spectacle  of  idol-  worship  —  Plain  of 
the  Mummies  —  Enlargement  of  Memphis  —  Discovery  of  treasures 
beneath  the  Sphinx  before  Chephres  —  The  captive  King  Occhoris  — 
Increase  of  Hebrews  —  Character  of  the  reigning  Pharaoh  —  His 
cruelty  to  the  Hebrews  —  Good  feeling  between  Hebrew  and  Egyp 
tian  women  —  Intelligence  of  the  long-absent  Remeses  (Moses)  —  pp. 


LETTEE    II. 

A  caravan  from  Ezion-geber  —  Its  governor  a  Midianite  —  Prince 
Jethro  —  Abrarn  —  Moses  in  Midian  —  The  young  prince  determines 
to  accompany  the  caravan  into  Midian,  and  to  seek  Moses  —  pp. 
477—481. 

LETTEE    III. 

Moses  to  his  old  friend  Sesostris  —  Account  of  his  mode  of  life  — 
His  meditations  upon  the  oppression  of  his  nation,  and  upon  the 
character  of  their  predicted  Deliverer  —  Is  inspired  to  write  a  narra 
tive  of  the  Creation  of  the  World—  pp.  482—484. 

LETTEE   IY. 

Journey  across  the  desert  —  Mount  Horeb  —  Moses,  standing  upon 
a  mountain-rock  —  Affecting  interview  —  Grotto  of  Moses  —  His  wife 
and  sons  —  Story  of  his  rescue  of  the  daughters  of  Jethro  at  the 
well  —  His  sublime  teachings  —  Will  he  be  the  Deliverer?  —  View 
from  Mount  Iloreb  —  Aaron  —  Miriam  —  pp.  485  —  490. 


CONTENTS.  21 

LETTEE    Y. 

Moses  leads  his  flock  to  a  secluded  valley — Wonderful  appearance 
of  the  Burning  Bush — Astonishment  of  the  shepherds — The  Voice 
in  the  midst  of  the  fire — God  reveals  Himself  to  Moses,  and  com 
missions  him  to  lead  forth  the  people — The  humility  of  Moses — His 
staff  converted  into  a  living  serpent — The  leprous  hand — Moses 
hesitates — The  Lord  rebukes  him,  and  the  flame  in  the  bush  shoots 
fiery  tongues — Aaron  to  be  the  mouth-piece  of  the  Lord — Miracu 
lously  advised,  Aaron  comes  to  Moses — Moses  converts  his  staff 
into  a  serpent,  before  Aaron — He  obtains  the  consent  of  Jethro  to 
his  departure  from  Midian — Moses  in  Egypt — Sends  messengers  to 
summon  the  elders  of  Israel  to  meet  him  at  Jacob's  well — Pharaoh's 
cruel  designs  against  the  Hebrews — pp.  491 — 503. 

LETTEE    VI. 

Midnight  meeting  of  the  elders  of  Israel — Jacob's  well  a  source 
of  superstitious  dread  to  the  Egyptians — Beautiful  moonlight  scene 
— Moses  opens  his  errand  from  the  Most  High — Aaron  unfolds  the 
traditional  promises — Unbelieving  Hebrews — Terrible  means  used 
for  their  conviction — Korah  persists  in  unbelief — His  punishment 
and  horror — The  assembly  dissolves — pp.  504 — 508. 

LETTEE    VII. 

Moses  goes  before  Pharaoh — Amazement  of  the  Egyptian  court 
iers — Harshness  of  Pharaoh — Moses  delivers  God's  message — Pha 
raoh  defies  the  Living  God — He  is  overcome  by  his  emotion,  but 
hardens  his  heart — New  toils  devised  for  the  Hebrews — pp.  509 — 
513. 

LETTEE    VIII. 

The  rod  !  the  whip!  the  cry  of  the  sufferers! — The  Hebrews  re 
proach  Moses  and  Aaron — Moses  appeals  to  the  Lord — Seeks  to 
comfort  his  brethren  with  the  words  of  the  Most  High — Hope  dies 


22  CONTENTS. 

in  their  hearts — Pharaoh  redoubles  his  worship  of  all  manner  of 
idols — He  curses  God — Sacrifices  a  living  Hebrew  child  to  the 
Nile — Sacrifices  a  Nubian  slave  to  Typhon — Invokes  his  idol-god 
against  the  God  of  Moses — A  secret  dread — Children  of  Israel  groan 
under  oppression — pp.  514 — 522. 

LETTER    IX. 

Moses  and  Aaron  again  seek  Pharaoh,  and  demand  the  freedom 
of  Israel — He  requires  a  miracle — Miracle  of  Moses'  rod — Jambres 
and  Jannes,  the  magicians — They  convert  their  rods  into  serpents — 
Moses'  serpent  destroys  theirs — The  brothers  confront  the  King  at 
the  river's  side — He  defies  their  God — The  Nile  runs  blood — Goshen, 
the  land  of  the  Hebrews,  sparkles  with  clear  water — Jambres  again 
appealed  to — The  plague  of  the  frogs — Jambres  and  Jannes  produce, 
but  cannot  remove  them — Pharaoh  relents,  and  the  plague  is  stayed — 
The  plague  of  lice — Jambres  and  Jannes  disgraced — God  speaks  to 
Moses  by  the  well  of  Jacob — The  plague  of  flies — Pharaoh  again 
relents — He  hardens  his  heart,  and  God  sends  a  pestilence  upon  the 
cattle — God  again  speaks  to  Moses  beside  the  well — The  plague  of 
boils — Goshen  unharmed — God  threatens  further  vengeance  upon 
Pharaoh— pp.  523—538. 

LETTER    X. 

Moses  denounces  the  plague  of  thunder  and  hail  against  Egypt — 
Grand  gathering  of  the  storm  of  God's  anger — The  storm  hangs 
over  Goshen  but  harms  it  not — The  purpose  of  God  in  these  judg 
ments — Terror  of  Pharaoh — Agrees  to  let  Israel  go — Scene  of  deso 
lation  and  death — Pharaoh  seeks  to  drown  his  terror  in  a  banquet — 
In  his  revels  curses  God — Again  refuses  to  let  the  people  go — He 
vacillates — Orders  Moses  and  Aaron  to  be  thrust  from  the  palace — 
The  plague  of  the  locusts — Despair  of  the  Egyptians — Pharaoh 
acknowledges  his  sin — The  plague  ceases — Character  of  Pharaoh — 
The  plague  of  darkness — Description  of  the  plague — Pharaoh  un 
equal  to  the  combat  with  God — His  rage  against  Moses — Moses 
denounces  upon  Pharaoh  God's  last  and  terrible  judgment — The 
Egyptians  deify  him— pp.  539—558. 


CONTENTS.  23 

LETTEE    XI. 

Moses  and  Aaron  call  the  elders  of  Israel  together — The  Passover 
instituted — The  Hebrews  cease  work — They  all  flock  to  Goshen — 
Moses  deified  by  priests  in  the  temples — Hopefulness  of  the  Hebrews 
— The  sprinkling — Egyptians  seek  refuge  with  the  HebreAvs — 
Silence  of  expectation — Awful  vision  of  the  Angel  of  the  Lord  in 
the  Pillar  of  Fire — A  cry  from  Egypt — Messengers  from  Pharaoh 
to  Moses — Amunophis,  the  son  of  Pharaoh,  slain  by  the  Angel  of 
the  Lord — Egyptians  implore  Moses  to  depart — Israel  marshalled — 
Guided  by  the  Pillar  of  Fire,  the  Hebrew  host  leave  Egypt — The 
Lamb  of  God  prefigured — Moses  explains  the  lessons  of  God's  judg 
ments — pp.  559 — 575. 

LETTEE    XII. 

The  departure — Sarcophagus  containing  the  embalmed  body  of 
J oseph — The  Shekinah — Succoth — Etham — Pi-hahiroth — Migdol — 
Hebrews  inclosed  between  the  mountains  and  the  sea — Calm  con 
fidence  of  Moses — Fulfilment  of  prophecy — Pharaoh  determines  to 
destroy  the  entangled  Hebrews — Gathers  a  mighty  host  and  follows 
in  pursuit — Dismay  of  the  Hebrews — The  Egyptian  army  comes  in 
sight — The  elders  reproach  Moses — He  calls  upon  God — The  Voice 
of  the  Lord— The  Pillar  of  Cloud  and  the  Pillar  of  Fire — The  sea- 
Israel  in  the  midst  of  the  sea — The  procession — The  pursuit — 
Frantic  terror  of  Pharaoh  and  his  army — Their  destruction — Israel 
filled  with  awe  and  gratitude — They  go  into  the  wilderness — The 
bitter  waters — Journey  abounding  in  miracles — The  rock  in  Horeb 
— God's  awful  presence  on  Horeb — Moses  disappears  in  the  mount 
of  God — The  people  murmur — They  demand  a  god — They  sacrifice 
to  a  molten  calf — An  indignant  God ! — Terrible  vengeance  upon 
the  offenders— Joshua— pp.  576—596. 

APPENDIX. 

The  author  to  the  scholar  and  critic — pp.  597 — 600. 


THE  PILLAR  OF  FIRE, 


OK 


ISRAEL  IN  BONDAGE. 


PRINCE    SESOSTKIS 

To  HIS  ROYAL  MOTHER,  EPIPHIA, 

QUEEN  OF  PIKENICIA. 

AT  length,  my  dear  mother,  I  have  reached  the 
*  Land  of  the  Seven  Rivers,"  and  do  now  write  to  you 
from  her  gorgeous  capital,  ON,  The  City  of  the  Sun. 

How  shall  I  describe  to  you  the  grand  and  solemn 
magnificence  of  this  city  of  divine  temples,  and  con 
vey  to  you  a  just  idea  of  its  palaces  that  seern  rather 
to  have  been  erected  for  the  abodes  of  gods  than  of 
men ! 

Wheresoever  I  turn  my  eyes,  I  realize  that  I  am  in 
mighty  Egypt ;  for  everywhere  I  behold  grandeur  and 
glory,  excellency  and  perfection.  Every  object  illus 
trates  the  power,  munificence,  and  taste  of  the  imperial 
princess  who  now  sits  on  the  throne  of  the  Pharaohs, 
and  the  splendor  of  whose  reign  has  raised  Egypt  above 
the  mightiest  empires  of  the  earth. 

And  all  that  I  behold  recalls  the  ancient  glory,  my 

2 


^  PILLAR -OF    FIRE,    OK 

dear  mother,  of  our  own  land,  the  once  princely  Pales- 
tina  and  Phoenicia, — twin  kingdoms  which  of  old  gave 
conquerors,  and  rulers,  and  laws  to  Egypt,  under  tho 
short  but  brilliant  dynasty  of  her  Shepherd  Kings !  But, 
though  fading  with  age,  Phoenicia  still  lives  in  the 
beauty,  pride,  and  power  of  her  daughter  Egypt. 

I  will  not  lament  over  the  waning  glory  of  my  own 
dear  land,  my  royal  mother,  while  I  can  see  it  revived 
here  with  increased  magnificence.  Phoenicia  is  not 
dead  while  Egypt  lives.  Every  ruin  in  my  own  king 
dom  is  restored  with  augmented  beauty  and  splendor  on 
the  green  plains  of  this  land  of  the  shining  River,  whose 
fountain-head  is  underneath  the  throne  of  Thoth,  far  in 
the  southern  sky. 

How  shall  I  describe  wThat  I  behold?  Every  new 
object  enchants  me,  and  moves  tny  soul  with  a  fresh 
pleasure.  (  Ijarn  intodcajedJjiQt_w.ith  wine,  but  with 
the  splendor  of  art  and  scenes  of  beauty,  and  with  man 
ifestations  of  human  glory  and  power  hitherto  incon 
ceivable.  I  have  he<a'd  my  royal  father  describe  the 
glory  of  Salem  in  Palestine,  under  the  princes  of  the 
dynasty  of  Melchisedec,  with  its  gorgeous  temples  to 
the  Sun,  and  its  palaces  of  marble,  its  hanging  gardens, 
and  noble  terraces  overlooking  its  flower-enamelled 
valleys ;  but  the  cities  of  Egypt  surpass  this  Syriac 
magnificence. 

In  coming  hither,  across  the  Levantine  seas,  from 
Syria,  I  seem  to  have  crossed  to  the  shores  of  that  mys 
tic  world  where  dwell  the  sacred  divinities,  rather  than 
only  to  another  land  of  the  plane  of  the  earth  ;  for 
Egypt,  compared  with  the  kingdom  of  Phoenicia  seems 
truly  the  land  of  the  blessed.  What  far-famed  war- 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  2T 

riors !  what  stately  priests,  clothed  with  power  from  the 
gods !  what  superb  princes  !  what  a  majestic  queen  ! 
what  grace  and  dignity  in  the  virgins  of  the  Sun !  what 
a  stupendous  system  of  worship  !  what  mighty  mausole 
ums,  both  tomb  and  temple,  rising  like  mountains  hewn 
into  solid  triangles  everywhere  over  the  illimitable 
plain  !  What  a  land  of  verdure  and  of  flowers ! — land 
of  gardens  and  palaces,  obelisks  and  fountains,  fanes 
and  altars,  sphinxes  and  gigantic  statues ! — land,  com 
prising  all  that  can  delight  the  heart  or  take  captive  the 
sense ! 

I  ask  myself — Am  I,  indeed,  in  Egypt,  the  "Land 
shadowing  with  wings,"  as  those  proud  Pharaohs, 
Thothmeses  I.  and  II.,  termed  it,  upon  their  winged 
globe-carved  shields  ? — am  I  in  Egypt,  the  glory  of  the 
earth,  the  kingdom  above  all  kingdoms,  whose  queen  is 
above  all  the  monarchs  that  reign,  and  before  the  eleva 
tion  of  whose  golden  sceptre  all  sceptres  fall  ? 

I  have  not  yet,  my  dearest  mother,  seen,  save  at  a 
distance,  as  she  was  ascending  the  steps  of  her  palace, 
this  mighty  queen  of  the  ancient  house  of  the  Pharaohs  ; 
but  the  third  day  hence  I  shall  be  formally  presented  to 
her  in  the  throne-room,  where  she  receives  the  ambassa 
dors  and  princes  of  the  nations  who  come  into  Egypt 
either  to  learn  arts  or  arms,  or  to  behold  the  magnifi 
cence  of  her  empire,  or  to  study  the  religion,  laws,  and 
government  of  a  nation,  the  fame  of  which  has  filled 
the  earth. 

Upon  my  arrival  with  my  galleys  off  the  mouths  of 
the  Nile,  I  forwarded  to  her,  by  a  private  messenger  in 
my  gilded  barge,  the  letters  written  by  your  loving 
hand  and  sealed  with  the  regal  signet  of  your  kingdom. 


28  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

commending  me  to  her  personal  favor  and  royal  con 
sideration. 

Although  I  have  not  yet  been  presented  to  the  court, 
I  have  seen,  and  must  describe  to  you,  the  royal  son  of 
Queen  Amense — this  proud  daughter  of  the  Pharaohs — 
Prince  Remeses.  Never  did  the  gods  set  their  seal 
upon  a  nobler  and  truer  prince.  Every  movement  of 
his  stately  and  graceful  person,  his  rich  voice,  his  superb 
height,  his  lordly  eyes,  his  majestic  yet  winning  carriage, 
all  bespeak  a  youth  born  to  empire — created  for  domin 
ion  over  men. 

He  is  now  in  his  thirty-fourth  year,  and  is  in  the  full 
glory  of  manhood.  He  is  skilled  in  all  the  arts  of  war, 
and  not  less  celebrated  for  his  learning  in  all  the  wisdom 
of  the  Egyptians.  Sages  and  philosophers  listen  to  his 
words  when  he  converses,  not  so  much  with  the  defer 
ence  that  is  the  homage  due  to  rank,  as  with  the  atten 
tion  which  intelligence  lends  to  superior  wisdom. 

He  received  me  with  kindness  and  embraced  me  with 
affection,  inquiring  after  the  welfare  of  my  royal  mother, 
and  welcoming  me  to  his  country  with  gracious  and 
courteous  words.  Notwithstanding  there  is  a  difference 
of  six  years  in  our  ages,  I  feel  that  I  shall  be  regarded 
by  him  on  terms  of  equal  friendship,  and  that  to  his  com 
panionship  I  shall  owe  the  happiest  hours  I  may  pass  in 
the  land  of  Egypt. 

But,  dear  mother,  as  I  promised  to  write  you  an 
account  of  my  voyage  hither,  with  the  adventures  and 
scenes  thereof  worthy  of  your  notice,  I  will  devote  the 
remainder  of  my  letter  to  this  subject. 

When  I  took  leave  of  you  on  the  marble  steps  of  the 
stately  pier  which  extends  along  the  front  of  our  palace, 


ISRAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  29 

and  had  stepped  upon  the  deck  of  my  galley,  I  felt  tha* 
a  twofold  cord  had  parted  at  my  heart. — one  which 
bound  me  to  thee,  O  mother,  from  whom  I  had  never 
before  been  separated,  and  one  which  tied  me  to  my 
native  land. 

Although  for  the  first  time  in  command  of  a  beautiful 

O 

fleet,  numbering  a  score  and  ten  galleys,  and  about  to  visit 
the  fairest  of  all  realms  under  the  sunny  skies  of  Afric, 
yet  the  pang  of  this  twofold  separation  deeply  grieved 
my  soul.  It  was  with  tears  glittering  upon  my  eyelids 
that  I  gazed  upon  you,  as  you  waved  your  adieux  and 
called  on  the  god  of  our  race  to  bless  me !  It  was  with 
a  voice  thick  with  emotion  that  I  gave  orders  to  the  ad 
miral  to  spread  the  purple  sails  of  my  golden  galley  to 
the  favoring  breezes  which  seemed  to  be  sent  in  answer 
to  your  prayers. 

Long  I  stood  upon  the  lofty  poop  of  my  ship,  gazing 
towards  the  receding  city,  with  its  noble  lines  of  palaces, 
its  crowning  temples,  its  familiar  groves,  and  pleasant 
gardens.  (Even  now  I  am  moved  as  I  recall  the  sweet 
emotions  of  that  time.)  As  I  surveyed  the  fleets  of  mer 
chantmen  from  all  lands  gathered  about  her  piers  and 
anchored  in  the  haven,  I  felt  my  sorrow  at  parting,  yield 
ing  gradually  to  a  feeling  of  pride  that  I  was  the  prince 
of  the  great  city  to  which  these  argosies  came  bearing 
the  merchants  of  all  the  earth.  Indeed  it  was  a  noble 
and  stirring  sight,  dear  mother,  and  calculated  to  divert 
my  thoughts,  to  see  these  ships,  as  my  galley  passed 
through  them,  lower  their  banners,  or  elevate  their  rows 

O  '  > 

of  shining  oars  high  in  the  air,  both  in  homage  and  fare 
well  to  the  departing  lord  of  the  port.  There  were  ves 
sels  for  bringing  the  merchandise  of  gold,  and  silver,  and 


SO  THE   PILLAR   OF.  FIRE,    OR 

precious  stones  from  unknown  seas;  galleys  from  Tarsus 
and  the  isles  of  the  West,  bearing  pearls,  and  coral,  and 
precious  woods,  and  thyme-wood  •  gayly  decked  barges, 
that  carry  fine  linen,  and  purple,  and  silk,  and  scarlet 
down  to  Egypt  from  Syria  ;  painted  ships  from  the  Nile, 
that  receive  by  caravans  from  Ind  and  the  East  cinna 
mon,  -and  odors,  and  ointments,  and  frankincense,  and 
ivory,  and  diamonds ;  the  low  dark  galleys  from  Afric^ 
that  bring  Ethiopian  slaves ;  and  the  broad  heavier  ves 
sels  from  the  Delta,  laden  with  wheat  and  line  flour  j 
There  were  also  the  strong  craft  from  Colchis  and  the 
North,  with  iron,  and  brass,  and  marble ;  and  oaken 
argosies  from  further  Britannia,  bringing  tin ;  tall  ships 
from  Grsecia  with  horses  and  chariots ;  while  from  the 
south  shores  of  the  summery  seas  were  light,  graceful 
vessels  laden  with  dainty  and  goodly  fruits,  and  birds  of 
gorgeous  plumes  and  of  ravishing  songs  !  All  these  an 
nually  lay  their  treasures  at  thy  feet ! 

As  I  moved  slowly  in  my  galley  through  the  rich 
fleet  of  ships  which  filled  your  haven,  I  felt  my  heart 
beat  quicker,  and  I  returned  the  salutations  of  the  ship 
masters  and  of  the  foreign  merchants  on  their  decks, 
with  smiles  of  gratification  at  the  prosperity  still  at  least 
of  our  port  of  Tyre ;  though  the  half  our  realm  has  been 
lost  by  invasion  and  our  interior  cities  are  decaying.  So 
long  as  Damascus  and  Tyre  remain,  dear  mother,  those 
two  eyes  of  your  kingdom,  your  power  and  throne  will 
stand.  The  decadence  of  our  sister  city  Sidon  will  not 
affect  our  prosperity,  since  her  ships  will  flock  to  Tyre. 
Yet  Sidon  will  rise  again,  if  in  my  power  to  restore  it. 

I  remained  upon  the  poop  of  my  ship  until  we  had 
passed,  not  onjy  the  fleet  of  merchant  galleys,  but  the 


ISRAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  31 

fourscore  war-ships  with  their  hundred  banks  of  oars, 
that  ever  guard  the  entrance  to  the  port  with  vigilant 
eyes  and  arms.  The  sun  was  gilding  with  his  setting 
beams  the  battlements  of  the  temple  of  Hercules  ;  and 
the  columns  of  the  graceful  temple  of  lo  were  richly 
roseate  in  the  blushing  glory  of  his  radiance.  The  last 
object  on  which  my  eye  rested  was  the  gilded  gate  of 
the  gorgeous  Fane  of  Nyeth.  on  Lebanon ;  and  I  sent 
from  my  lips  a  prayer  to  the  fair  and  kind-hearted  god 
dess  to  guard  tliee,  mother,  and  me  for  thy  sake. 

We  soon  passed  the  bright  red  Pharos,  from  the  lofty 
lantern  of  which,  as  the  shades  of  evening  rapidly  fell 
around  us,  streamed  forth  like  a  new-born  star  its  cheer 
ing  splendor  for  the  haven-bound  mariner.  Soon  in  the 
heavens  over  us  other  lights  were  kindled  by  the  gods ; 
and  the  moon,  rising  over  the  lofty  mountain-range  of 
Libanus,  made  far  out  upon  the  sea  a  path  of  light,  that 
seemed  like  a  band  of  silver  with  which  she  would  bind 
me  still  to  the  shores  I  was  leaving !  But  in  Egypt  I 
yet  behold  the  same  moon  shine  down  upon  me  with 
familiar  radiance  ;  and  as  I  gaze  upon  her  I  can  feel, 
that  even  here  she  is  a  link  to  bind  me  to  my  native 
land — that  upon  her  winged  beams  I  can  send  a  thought 
to  my  dear  mother,  on  whom  also  she  shines. 

My  whole  fleet  got  well  out  of  the  port  before  the  star 
Aldebaran  rose  ;  and  as  the  breeze  was  light,  the  gov 
ernors  of  the  rowers  commanded  them  to  ply  their  oars. 
Thus  with  the  fall  of  a  thousand  sweeps  into  the  blue 
sea  at  one  motion,  keeping  time  to  the  voice  of  a  singer 
who  stood  upon  the  bridge  across  the  mid-ship,  we 
kept  our  course  clown  the  coast  of  Palestine.  We 
would  have  steered  directly  for  the  Delta  of  the  Nile, 


32  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

but  had  knowledge,  by  a  vessel  that  met  us,  of  a  fleet 
of  Rhodian  pirates,  which  lay  wait,  in  that  vicinity,  for 
the  Egyptian  merchant-ships ;  and,  as  my  galleys  were 
rather  an  escort  of  honor  than  a  war-fleet,  I  did  not  wish 
to  measure  my  strength  with  them,  but  dispatched  one 
of  my  ships,  the  same  night,  back  to  Tyre,  to  the  admiral 
of  your  Tyrian  fleet,  who,  no  doubt,  has  gone  out  ere 
this  in  pursuit  of  these  sea-rovers  and  enemies  of  our 
commerce. 

Neverthele^,  after  we  had  passed  Jaffa,  and  the  next 
day  Ascalon  in  lower  Philistia,  we  beheld  half  a  score 
of  ships  of  doubtful  appearance,  and,  by  my  orders,  six 
galleys  were  detached  from  the  fleet  and  gave  chase. 
They  proved  to  be  fast-sailing  Ionian  pirates,  for  one  of 
them,  being  crippled,  was  overtaken.  They  had  been 
many  weeks  on  the  sea,  and  were  returning  to  their  own 
distant  and  barbarous  islands,  richly  laden.  The  cap 
tain  of  the  galley  took  out  her  merchandise,  and  precious 
stones,  and  spices,  of  which  she  had  robbed  other  ships, 
and  burned  her  on  the  sea,  with  all  the  wretches  who 
appertained  to  her. 

The  shores  of  Egypt  were  reached  by  us  on  the  sev 
enth  day,  without  any  accident  to  my  fleet.  It  was  two 
hours  after  the  sun  rose  that  \ve  came  in  view  of  the  low 
line  of  land  which  marks  the  entrance  to  the  "  Garden 
of  the  World,"  and  from  wrhich  open  the  seven  gates  of 
the  Nile  into  the  great  blue  sea. 

Upon  ascending  to  the  castle  for  bowmen  on  the  high 
est  mast  of  the  ship,  I  could  discern  the  tall  columns 
erected  by  King  Menes  at  the  chief  entrance  of  the 
river,  from  the  summit  of  each  of  which  at  night  blazes 
a  wonderful  flame,  said  to  have  been  invented  by  the 


ISRAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  33 

Magi  of  Egypt.  As  our  galley  rowed  nearer  the  faint 
line  of  coast,  I  could  see  numerous  ships  coming  out  and 
entering  the  Pelusian  branch  of  the  Nile, — some  of  them 
in  the  interior  so  far,  that  only  their  tops  could  be  seen 
above  the  level  land.  I  was  now  suddenly  surprised 
with  a  change  in  the  color  of  the  sea,  which,  from  an 
emerald  green,  became  clouded  with  an  intermixture  of 
tawny  water,  thick  with  mud,  that  seemed  to  flow  upon 
the  surface  of  the  sea,  as  if  lighter  than  itself.  I  soon 
perceived  that  this  was  the  outrush  of  the  river  against 
the  sea,  with  which  it  refused  wholly  to  intermingle 
and  lose  itself, — as  if  the  proud  Father  Nilus  reluctantly 
yielded  his  power,  so  long  wielded  for  a  thousand  miles, 
to  the  sceptre  and  dominion  of  the  god  of  the  Mediter 
ranean.  Yet  the  latter — so  vast  was  the  volume  of  the 
yellow  waves  of  the  former — was  forced  a  league  from 
the  shore  before  the  conquered  Kile  ceased  to  resist  his 
fate. 

The  sun  shone  upon  the  battlements  of  the  great  ci'.y 
of  Pelusium — the  oldest  fortified  place  in  Egypt,  and 
called  "  the  Key  of  Egypt,"  and  also  "  the  Strength  of 
Egypt" — and  lighted  up  the  terraces  of  its  gardens  and 
temples ;  but  the  admiral  told  me  that  every  year  the 
deposit  of  the  Nile  is  covering  them,  and  that  ere  r.\any 
centuries  no  trace  will  be  left  of  a  city  which  is  older 
than  On  or  Memphis.  We  saw,  from  the  deck,  pi  iaces 
and  obelisks  and  groves  in  the  suburbs,  and  further  in 
land  a  country  of  wonderful  beauty  and  of  the  highest 
cultivation,  but  as  level  as  the  sea,  from  which  it  is  ele 
vated  but  a  few  feet.  The  muddy  and  wonderful  Kile 
is  overflowing  annually  these  pleasant  maritime  plains ; 
and  as  the  plane  of  the  Delta  is  steadily  raised,  these 


34.  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OK 

ancient  cities  and  palaces  and  this  fair  land  will  become 
a  fen  for  the  stork  and  the  sea-mew !  How  different 
the  site  of  Tyre,  my  dear  mother !  Built  upon  the  firm 
coast,  and  defended  by  nature,  it  will  stand  forever  as 
the  key  of  Syria  and  of  the  East ;  and  to  the  end  of  time 
the  commerce  of  the  world  will  flow  into  the  palace-like 
warehouses  of  its  opulent  merchants  ! 

As  we  drew  near  the  port,  one  of  the  large  fishing 
eagles  which  have  their  home  in  the  Delta  soared  above 
:mr  heads,  scanning  our  deck  with  his  piercing  glances : 
and  snow-white  birds  with  black-tipped  wings  skimmed 
past  from  wave  to  wave ;  while  others,  resting  upon  the 
crest  of  a  shining  billow,  rocked  gracefully  with  the  mo 
tion  of  its  undulations.  An  ibis  stalked  upon  the  shore, 
and  numerous  aquatic  birds,  unknown  to  us,  soared  about 
our  galleys  with  sharp  and  strange  outcries. 

The  atmosphere  of  the  morning  was  slightly  hazy, 
and,  suffused  by  the  sunbeams,  cast  a  soft  veil  over  the 
land,  investing  galley,  pharos,  and  fane  with  the  hues  of 
geld.  It  was  a  scene  of  novel  beauty,  and  I  hailed  the 
very  first  view  of  Egypt  with  delight,  It  was  a  happy 
omen  of  the  future. 

As  my  galley  advanced  before  the  fleet,  a  large  war 
ship  with  a  triple  poop-deck,  and  propelled  by  three 
hundred  oars,  swept  like  a  swift  dark  cloud  out  of  the 
mouth  of  the  river  and  bore  down  towards  me  in  hos 
tile  attitude.  I  displayed  the  insignia  of  n:y  kingdom 
at  the  top  of  the  chief  mast,  and  awaited  the  Egyptian 
guard-ship.  The  vessel  was  brought  to,  a  bow-shot  from 
my  own,  and  I  was  asked  by  the  governor  thereof,  who 
I  was,  whence  I  caine,  and  my  destination '?  To  these 
inquiries  I  gave  satisfactory  replies  through  my  ad- 


ISRAEL    IN   BON1UGE.  35 

niral ;  whereupon  the  Egyptian  captain,  commanding 
fin  elegant  barge  to  be  made  ready,  came  on  board, 
attended  by  his  suite,  to  pay  his  respects  to  me  as 
Prince  of  Tyre.  I  came  forth  from  my  state-room  to 
receive  him,  my  dear  mother,  attired  as  became  my 
rank.  In  the  most  courteous  language,  and  with  an 
elegance  of  manners  unsurpassed  save  in  the  polite  land 
of  Egypt,  he  assured  me  of  the  pleasure  it  would  give 
his  royal  mistress,  Queen  Ameiise,  "The  Support  of 
Worlds,"  as  he  termed  her,  to  have  me  visit  her  court. 
He  said  she  was  just  then  returning  from  a  visit  to  the 
temple  of  Isis  and  Nephthys,  at  Phihe,  with  a  vast 
retinue  of  state  and  sacred  galleys,  and  by  the  time  I 
arrived  at  Memphis  she  would  be  either  there  or  at  her 
private  palace  at  On. 

By  his  advice,  I  dispatched,  in  our  handsomest  galley, 
my  secretary,  Acherres,  with  a  copy  of  the  letter  to  the 
queen,  which  you  gave  to  me,  sealed  with  my  own  sig 
net.  This  done,  I  entertained  the  Egyptian  officer  with 
a  magnificence  becoming  my  position  and  his  owrn.  He 
was  much  pleased  with  the  elegance  of  my  ship,  and  the 
complete  appointment  of  my  fleet.  He  said  he  had  never 
seen  a  Tyrian  squadron  before,  but  had  heard  much  of 
our  luxury  and  perfection  in  maritime  affairs. 

His  ship  was  stately  in  height,  and  terrible  with  its 
warlike  aspect.  The  poop  bristled  with  armed  warriors 
in  polished  helms  of  brass.  It  had  four  short  masts, 
and  upon  each  top  thereof  a  huge  castle  containing 
a  score  of  Libyan  bowmen  with  steel-headed  arrows. 
Upon  the  prow  was  a  sort  of  fortress,  on  which  stood  a 
group  of  soldiers  armed  with  long  spears  and  with  large 
oval  shields,  on  which  were  painted  hieroglyphic  devices 


36  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

in  brilliant  colors.  Arranged  on  the  sides  above  the 
rowers  were  black  Ethiopians,  gigantic  men  in  steel 
cuirasses,  with  long  swords  held  before  them.  The 
captains  of  these  warriors  were  stationed  at  various 
points,  arrayed  in  rich  armor  of  varied  fashion,  accord 
ing  to  the  class  of  soldiers  that  w<ere  under  them.  _The 
prow  of  this  mighty  battle-ship,  which  carried  one  thou 
sand  fighting  men,  besides  three  hundred  rowers,  wTas 
ornamented  with  a  lion's  head  and  shoulders  of  colossal 
size;  while  across  the  stern  stretched  the  broad,  gilded 
wings  of  the  feathered  globe  of  the  Sun,  which  is  the 
emblem  of  the  kingdom  of  Egypt.  Besides  this  gor 
geous  and  majestic  galley,  there  were  many  lesser  ones 
near,  having  but  a  single  mast  and  fifty  oars.  This  fieet 
ever  kept  guard  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kile,  and  thus  de 
fended  the  gates  of  Egypt  on  the  sea  against  foes. 

When  I  had  sufficiently  admired  his  ship  from  my 
own,  the  admiral,  whose  name  is  Pathromenes,  invited 
me  to  go  on  board.  After  viewing  all  the  parts  of  the 
ship,  and  especially  the  noble  apartments  devoted  to  him 
and  his  officers,  I  was  entertained  with  musical  instru 
ments  by  players  of  infinite  skill.  Then  I  wras  amused 
with  the  performances  of  jugglers  and  the  wonderful 
antics  of  grotesque  deformed  dwarfs,  who  seemed  kept 
on  board  only  for  the  entertainment  of  these  Egyptian 
nobles.  Towards  evening,  a  banquet  was  offered  me. 
Among  other  rare  dishes  were  gazelles.  Before  the 
feast,  the  admiral  made  a  signal  to  a  priest  of  Osiris, 
who  presided  over  the  sacred  rites  on  board,  and  inaugu 
rated  it  by  a  prayer  to  the  god  for  the  welfare  of  the 
queen  and  the  prosperity  of  the  kingdom.  This  custom 
recalled  our  own,  of  offering  first  a  libation  of  wine  to 


ISRAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  37 

the  gods.  During  the  banquet,  sweet  strains  of  music 
floated  around  us.  After  we  had  closed  the  feast,  and 
were  drinking  wine,  an  attendant  entered,  "bearing  a 
miniature  mummy,  elaborately  painted  and  gilded. 
Holding  this  emblem  of  mortality  before  me  and  the 
admiral,  he  said  solemnly : 

"  Behold  this,  and  drink  and  be  happy ;  for  such  thou 
shalt  be  when  thou  art  dead !" 

I  was  not  a  little  surprised  at  this  unwelcome,  and,  as 
it  seemed  to  me,  unseasonable  intrusion.  Pathromenes, 
observing  my  looks,  said  with  a  smile :  "  This  intro 
duction  of  a  memorial  of  death  to  our  feasts,  O  prince, 
is  not  unseasonable.  It  is  designed  to  exhort  us  to  en- 
\oy  life  while  we  possess  it,  for  when  we .  are  no  more, 
enjoyment  will  be  past."  Thus  saying,  he  poured  out 
a  vase  of  wine  into  our  golden  cups,  and  pledged  me 
"Thy  health,  my  mother!"  So  I  drank  to  thee,  and 
the  glory  of  thy  reign.  Nevertheless,  I  do  not  agree 
with  the  admiral,  but  think,  rather,  that  the  inten 
tion  of  this  exhibition  of  Death  to  guests,  is  to  warn 
them  that,  while  life  is  so  short,  it  ought  not  to  be  spent 
wholly  in  pleasure  and  festivities. 

At  length,  night  coming  on,  I  returned  to  my  ship, 
and  the  next  day,  with  a  light  wind  and  aided  by  but 
one  bank  of  rowers,  entered  the  mighty  Kile,  and 
slowly  ascended  its  powerful  but  sluggish  stream.  The 
courtly  Pathromenes  escorted  me  past  Pelusium,  and 
then  took  leave  of  me,  embracing  me  more  like  a  father 
than  a  friend.  I  left  my  fleet  at  the  Pelusian  Delta,  to 
return  to  Tyre  after  it  shall  have  received  fresh  water 
on  board  from  the  Nile.  The  only  galleys  I  took  with 
me  are  the  one  I  came  in,  and  that  on  board  of  which  1 


33  THE    PILLAE   OF   FIRE,    Oil 

sent  my  secretary  to  the  capital  in  advance  of  me.     I 
trust  the  remainder  will  safely  reach  Syria. 

The  shores  of  the  Eastern  Nile,  as  we  ascended,  pre 
sented  an  unchanging  scene  of  gardens,  verdant  fields 
of  corn,  villages,  temples,  and  tombs,  all  united  in  one 
unbroken  belt  for  leagues.  The  river  was  dotted  with 
fishers  in  their  slender  boats,  and  we  constantly  met  ves 
sels  descending,  bound  to  the  open  sea :  some  for  Afric, 
for  gold-dust  and  ivory ;  others  to  Philistia,  for  copper 
and  iron  ;  others  to  Colchis,  for  silver,  or  to  the  Isle  of 
Thasos.  The  evening  of  the  day  we  entered  the  river, 
we  beheld  the  sacred  crocodile.  It  was  a  vast  scaly 
monster,  basking  on  the  shore.  I  gazed  upon  him  with 
wonder  and  fear.  If  he  be  a  god,  his  votaries  worship 
him  rather  through  terror  than  from  love.  But  to  my 
senses  all  the  minor  deities  of  Egypt  are  gross  and 
revolting.  Yet  I  must  not  dare  to  be  impious  while  in 
the  very  land  of  these  gods. 

The  next  day,  after  sailing  for  hours  between  gardens, 
we  drew  near  the  City  of  On,  on  the  east  bank.  Our 
approach  to  it  was  marked  by  the  increased  size  and 
grandeur  of  the  palaces  and  temples,  and  the  life  and 
activity  on  the  shores.  Before  reaching  the  city,  I 
caught  view  of  Memphis  on  the  west  sille  of  the  river, 
and  far  beyond  towered  the  apex  of  one  of  those  mighty 
pyramids  whose  age  is  lost  in  the  oblivion  of  the  past. 

Farewell,  dear  mother.  In  my  next  letter  I  will 
describe  my  arrival  and  debarking  at  the  terrace  of  the 
City  of  the  Sun,  and  my  gratifying  reception  by  tha 
Prince  llemeses. 

Your  affectionate  son, 

SESOSTRTS. 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  39 


LETTER    II. 

CITY  OF  THE  SUN. 

MY    DEAR    AND    ROYAL    MOTHER  I 

TIIIXK  not  that  the  splendors  of  the  Court  of 
"  Pharaoh's  Daughter,"  as  the  Egyptians  still  love 
to  call  their  queen,  will  lead  me  to  forget  my  own 
royal  home  and  the  dear  scenes  in  which  I  have  passed 
my  life — scenes  that  memory  will  ever  cherish,  as  they 
are  associated  with  the  love  and  care  of  a  mother,  snch 
as  a  prince  was  never  before  blessed  with  by  the  gods. 
Think  not,  my  queenly  mother,  that  while  I  describe 
\vith  pleasure  the  magnificence  of  Queen  Amense's 
realm,  I  think  less  of  your  own  kingdom ;  but,  rather, 
all  I  behold  only  causes  me  to  love  my  native  land  the 
more  ;  for  the  glory  of  Tyre,  iny  home,  is  my  mother's 
presence — and  my  mother  is  not  here  !  Queen  Amense 
may  have  the  homage  of  my  intellect,  but  that  of  niy 
heart  is  reserved  only  for  tliee  ! 

I  have  prefaced  my  letter  in  this  manner,  dear  mother, 
lest  you  should  jealously  read  the  glowing  descriptions 
I  give  of  what  I  behold,  and  may  fear  that  the  luxuries 
and  grandeur  of  Egypt  will  make  me  dissatisfied  with 
the  lesser  splendor  of  the  Court  of  Phoenicia.  Fear  not. 
I  shall  bring  back  to  thee  a  son's  faithful  love,  and  to  my 
people  the  loyal  affection  due  to  them  from  their  prince. 


40  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

I  cl  osed  my  letter  to  you  in  sight,  as  I  thought,  of  the 
City  of  the  Sun.  But  what  I  believed  to  be  the  capital 
of  the  gods,  was  but  the  colossal  gateway  leading  from 
the  river  to  the  city,  which  is  half  an  hour's  ride  inland. 
Yet  from  the  Nile  to  the  city  there  is  a  continuous 
avenue  of  temples,  such  as  earth  has  never  beheld — not 
even  Nineveh  or  Babylon,  in  all  their  glory.  For  a 
mile  fronting  the  river  extends  a  row  of  palaces,  which, 
stupendous  as  they  are,  form  but  wings  to  a  central  tem 
ple  of  vaster  dimensions.  The  palaces  that  guard  it,  as 
it  were,  are  adorned  with  sculptured  columns  of  the 
most  elegant  description.  They  are  three  hundred  in 
number,  covered  with  gorgeous  paintings  in  the  richest 
tints,  and  carved  with  the  most  finished  art.  The  beau 
tiful  capitals  of  these  columns  are  shaped  alternately 
like  a  flower-bud,  not  yet  expanded,  or  like  the  open 
flower  of  the  lotus,  and  the  sides  formed  of  imitations, 
by  the  wonderful  artist,  of  leaves  and  flowers  indigenous 
to  Egypt.  The  columns  and  capitals,  thus  exquisitely 
fashioned,  are  gigantic  in  size,  and  of  the  grandest 
altitude. 

The  central  temple  is  a  lofty  and  wonderful  edifice  of 
brilliant  red  sandstone,  with  sixty  columns  of  marble 
enriching  its  facades  ;  these,  with  the  three  hundred, 
representing  the  three  hundred  and  sixty  days  of  the 
ancient  Egyptian  year.  The  front  of  this  sublime  temple 
is  pierced  by  three  colossal  gateways,  broad  enough  for 
four  chariots  to  pass  abreast.  These  gateways  are 
adorned  with  paintings,  in  the  brightest  tints,  represent 
ing  processions  of  priests,  sacrifices,  offering  of  incense, 
and  all  the  imposing  religious  ceremonies  appertaining 
to  the  worship  of  the  Sun. 


ISRAEL  IN  BONDAGE.  41 

Above  the  centre  gateway,  between  the  noble  wings 
of  the  propyla  which  flank  it,  is  a  representative  em 
blem  of  Osiris,  in  the  shape  of  a  splendid  shield  of  the 
sun,  a  hall-sphere  of  gold,  from  which  extend  wings  for 
many  yards,  each  feather  glittering  with  precious  stones. 
Around  the  globe  are  entwined  two  brazen  asps,  emblems 
of  which.  I  have  not  yet  learned  the  signification. 

Imagine,  my  dear  mother,  this  stupendous  and  noble 
temple,  with  its  vast  wings  facing  the  river,  and  reflect 
ed  upon  its  sunny  surface.  Fancy  the  river  itself,  flow 
ing  laterally  through  these  gateways  into  an  artificial 
canal,  lined  with  trees,  and  bordered  by  lesser  temples, 
which  recede  in  long  lines  of  diminishing  columns. 
Behold  oranges  swinging  in  clusters  from  branches  bend 
ing  over  the  water,  while  scarlet  pomegranates,  figs,  and 
olives  fill  trees  innumerable  that  shade  the  terraces;  and 
vines,  either  gorgeous  with  flowers  of  wonderful  beauty 
and  form,  or  pendent  with  purple  grapes,  entwine  the 
columns,  and  depend  from  the  carved  abacus  of  the 
capitals. 

Into  this  canal  my  beautiful  galley  was  received,  in 
the  sight  of  thousands  of  admiring  gazers  standing  upon 
the  steps  of  the  terrace  which  led  down  to  the  entrance, 
and  on  which  I  had  landed  to  pay  rny  homage  to  the 
chief  captain  at  the  propylon,  who,  magnificently  at 
tired,  waited,  by  the  queen's  command,  to  receive  me 
and  conduct  me  to  the  city. 

Returning  with  me  on  board  my  galley,  he  gave  orders 
for  it  to  be  taken  in  charge  by  two  royal  barges, 
with  prows  of  silver,  and  golden  banners  waving  above 
the  heads  of  the  rowers,  who  were  Nubian  slaves  clothed 
in  scarlet  tunics.  Thus,  in  state,  my  dear  mother,  as 


42  THE   PILLAK    OF   F1BK,    OR 

became  a  prince,  was  I  borne  along  this  avenue  of 
palaces  and  fanes,  andjfragrant  gardens.  The  vanishing 
line  of  columns  was,  at  short  intervals,  interrupted  by 
gateways,  above  which  were  statues  of  Osiris  and  Isis. 

I  was  almost  bewildered  by  the  novelty  and  splendor 
of  these  varied  scenes,  and  was  thinking  that  nothing 
could  surpass  in  magnificence  this  mighty  avenue  to 
a  city,  when  all  at  once  the  canal  expanded  into  a  cir 
cular  lake  completely  inclosed  by  columns,  forming 
majestic  colonnades  on  all  sides,  in  which  were  walk 
ing  and  conversing  innumerable  richly  dressed  per 
sons,  while  others  were  grouped  around  noble-looking 
ancient  men,  listening  to  their  discourses.  The  chief 
captain,  who  was  with  me  in  my  galley,  informed  me 
that  these  columned  halls  were  the  favorite  resort  of 
the  eminent  philosophers  and  scholars  of  all  lands,  who 
came  hither  to  be  taught  in  the  learning  and  wisdom  of 
the  Egyptians.  I  then  looked  a  little  closer,  when  he 
was  pleased  to  point  out  to  me  several  great  philoso 
phers,  who,  called  wise  men  in  their  own  kingdom,  yet 
had  come  hither  to  learn  at  the  feet  of  these  masters  of  the 
world's  wisdom,  the  wise  men  of  Egypt.  As  we  were 
rowed  past  and  around  this  majestic  circle  of  columns, 
I  saw  two  noble  youths  from  Damascus,  who  came  last 
year  to  Tyre,  in  order  to  embark  for  Memphis.  I  beheld 
also  Prince  Melchor  of  the  City  of  Salem,  in  Syria,  the 
descendant  of  the  great  king  Melchisedec,  whose  wise 
reign,  .about  three  centuries  ago,  is  still  remembered 
with  glory  and  honor  to  his  name.  The  prince  recog 
nized  me,  and  returned  rny  salutation,  and  leaving  the 
group  with  which  he  stood,  hastened  around  the  ter 
race  to  meet  me  at  the  place  of  debarkation  ;  for  this 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  43 

delightful  lake,  dear  mother,  terminated  the  noble  canal 
which  united  it  with  the  river.  Beyond  it,  the  galleys 
And  barges  did  not  go.  Instead  of  water,  this  mighty 
avenue  to  Oil  was  now  to  be  continued  by  land.  At 
the  place  opposite  the  inlet  rose  two  lofry  obelisks  a  hun 
dred  feet  in  the  air,  of  incomparable  elegance  a  d 
beauty.  They  were  dedicated  to  Osiris  and  Isis.  EL- 
vated  upon  pedestals  of  porphyry,  they  formed  the 
graceful  entrance  to  a  semicircular  flight  of  marble 
steps  which  led  from  the  lake  to  a  broad  terrace  inter 
laid  with  parti-colored  marbles,  in  every  variety  of  de 
vice  which  taste  could  conceive,  or  art  execute.  Land 
ing  upon  these  steps,  I  ascended  to  the  terrace,  and  was 
there  met  and  embraced  by  the  Prince  of  Salem.  Here 
the  chief  captain  took  leave  of  me,  and  immediately 
there  advanced  towards  me  a  noble  person,  wearing  a 
chain  of  gold  about  his  neck,  and  clothed  in  purple  silk, 
richly  embroidered,  and  who  carried  in  his  right  hand  a 
long  silver  wand,  with  the  head  of  an  ibis,  cut  out  of  a 
precious  stone,  upon  it.  He  said  that  he  was  an  officer 
of  the  court  of  the  queen,  and  had  come  to  conduct  me 
on  my  way  to  the  city. 

"  Her  majesty,"  he  said,  with  dignity  becoming  one 
who  served  so  mighty  a  monarch,  "  has  received  your 
letter,  royal  prince,  and  has  directed  her  servants  to  pay 
you  all  honor !" 

I  acknowledged  the  grace  of  the  queenly  Arnense  in 
this  courteous  reception  of  a  stranger,  and  followed  him 
across  the  terrace,  which  I  perceived  was  encircled  by 
statues  of  all  the  divinities  of  the  earth  ;  and  I  was 
gratified  to  see  that  lo,  and  Hercules,  and  the  favored 
deity  of  Phoenicia,  Athyris,  had  conspicuous  pedestals 


44  THE    PILLAR    OF    FIRE,    OR 

allotted  to  their  sacred  images,  near  the  Theban  god 
Am  an. 

Indeed,  dear  mother,  this  fact,  and  the  manner  of  my 
reception,  shows  that  the  present  dynasty  has  graciously 
forgotten  the  conquest  of  Egypt  by  the  warlike  hosts  of 
Phoenicia.  But  when  we  recollect  that  the  first  Amosis 
of  the  present  house  of  Pharaohs  had  for  his  queen  the 
beautiful  Ephtha,  daughter  of  the  last  Phoenician  Pha 
raoh,  taking  her  captive  when  he  expelled  the  father 
from  the  throne  of  Memphis,  we  need  not  be  surprised 
at  the  favor  shown  us  by  the  noble  Queen  Ainense,  for, 
fourth  only  in  descent  from  the  fair  Phoenician,  who  was 
of  our  own  blood,  she  is  our  cousin  by  just  hereditary 
lineage. 

When  I  had  traversed  the  "  Hall  of  the  Gods,"  we 
came  to  a  lofty  two-leaved  gate  of  brass,  which  stood 
between  two  sculptured  propyla  of  Libyan  stone.  At 
a  wave  of  the  wand  of  my  escorter,  they  flew  wide 
open,  and  revealed  the  most  magnificent  and  awe-inspir 
ing  spectacle  that  it  was  possible  to  conceive  the  world 
could  present. 

Before  me  was  revealed  an  avenue,  more  than  a  mile 
in  length  to  the  eye,  leading  straight  to  the  City  of 
the  Sun,  which  rose,  temple  rising  beyond  temple, 
shining  like  gold  in  the  sunbeams,  a  mountain  of  archi 
tecture,  fashioned  as  if  by  the  hands  of  gods  rather  than 
of  men.  In  the  midst  stood,  elevated  above  all  sur 
rounding  edifices,  the  great  temple  of  Osiris  itself,  en 
circled  by  a  belt  of  twelve  glittering  obelisks,  represent 
ing  the  twelve  months.  In  the  centre  of  this  wonderful 
girdle,  upon  the  apex  of  a  pyramid  rising  within  the 
walls  of  the  temple,  two  hundred  feet  high,  blazed  that 


ISRAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  45 

sacred  gold  shield  of  the  sun — the  shield  of  Osiris — the 
fame  of  which  has  filled  the  world.  It  was  like  the  sun 
itself  for  glory  and  splendor !  Oh,  how  can  I  describe 
all  this !  My  pen  refuses  to  find  language  to  record 
what  I  wish  to  write. 

But  I  will  be  brief,  lest  I  overpower  you  with 
gorgeousness,  and  blind  you  with  glory.  Yerily,  the 
Egyptians  seem  resolved  to  rob  the  heavens  of  theii 
celestial  architecture,  and  set  up  a  rival  heaven  on 
earth ! 

From  the  open  gateway  of  brass  I  beheld  the  city 
thus  described,  with  its  temple,  obelisks,  pyramid,  and 
countless  palaces,  while  the  whole  was  encircled  by  a 
green  belt  of  gardens,  which  shut  it  in  from  the  desert, 
like  a  setting  of  Indian  diamonds  in  a  bed  of  Assyrian 
emeralds. 

The  avenue  itself  was  paved  with  red-colored  Syene 
stones  from  the  isles  of  the  Cataracts,  and  on  each  side 
was  a  gigantic  row  of  sphinxes,  reposing  on  broad,  ele 
vated  dromoi.  Some  of  these  represented  lions,  leopards, 
and  other  beasts  of  the  African  and  Nubian  deserts. 
Some  of  them  had  the  head  of  a  ram,  with  the  body  of 
a  lion,  the  fore-paws  extended  upon  the  terrace,  the  vast 
body  resting  upon  the  hind-paws,  all  presenting  aspects 
of  majestic  repose.  There  were  one  hundred  of  these 
stone  effigies,  in  a  double  row  twenty  feet  apart,  facing 
the  avenue,  and  fastening  upon  the  passer-by  their  stony 
eyes  in  immovable  watchfulness.  This  avenue  I  walked 
up,  preceded  by  the  queen's  officer,  and  escorted  by  a 
retinue,  which  fell  in  behind  me. 

Having  passed  this  row  of  crio-sphinxes  we  ascended 
three  broad  steps,  on  each  side  of  which  towered  a  loftv 


4:6  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

pylon,  elaborately  adorned  with  costly  paintings  of 
colossal  size,  representing  sacred  scenes.  Another 
dromo  bordered  with  fourscore  andro-sphinxes,  having 
alternate  faces  of  Osiris  and  Isis,  the  one  stamped  with 
majesty,  the  other  with  beauty,  now  began,  and  passing 
this  solemn  and  tiwfnl  range  of  gigantic  faces  we  came 
to  another  ascent  of  marble  steps,  flanked  by  obelisks: 
four  lofty  pylones,  and  three  spacious  courts  were  at 
the  end  of  the  dromos  of  sphinxes,  also  a  vast  arena 
inclosed  by  palaces.  Crossing  this  noble  square,  we 
came  to  two  colossi  of  granite,  representing  Cheops  and 
Nilus,  their  shields  covered  with  hieroglyphics  wrought 
with  the  highest  degree  of  perfection,  each  cartouch 
recording  their  titles  and  deeds. 

At  this  point  there  met  me  a  superbly  caparisoned 
Arabian  charger,  held  by  two  pages  ;  while  a  young 
noble,  bearing  upon  his  breast  the  insignia  of  a  prince 
of  the  queen's  palace,  addressed  me,  and  invited  me  tc 
mount  the  beautiful  and  fiery  animal. 

I  obeyed,  leaping  into  the  saddle  with  delight  at  once 
more  being  upon  horseback.  Scarcely  had  I  pressed 
the  bit  with  the  gilded  bridle,  ere  a  score  of  horsemen, 
in  splendid  armor,  issued  from  the  propylon  on  my  left, 
in  two  columns,  and,  inclosing  me  between  them,  es 
corted  me  through  several  magnificent  courts,  in  which 
I  caught  glimpses  of  obelisks,  monoliths  of  kings,  pylones 
sixty  feet  in  height  with  pyramidal  wings,  giving  en 
trance  to  courts  each  more  magnificent  than  the  last. 

At  length  I  saw  before  me  the  great  and  splendid 
pylon  which  gives  admission  to  the  city.  In  front  of 
it,  raised  upon  a  throne  of  crimson  stone.,  stood,  with 
his  ibis  head  fifty  feet  in  the  air,  a  monolith  statue  of 


ISRAEL    IX   BONDAGE.  47 

Tlioth.  In  liis  outstretched  right  hand  he  held  a  pair  of 
scales,  and  in  his  left  a  tablet. 

At  tin's  gate,  the  city  is  entered  in  its  central  point. 
Two  obelisks,  ninety  feet  in  height,  towered  on  each  side 
of  the  entrance.  Here  I  was  received  by  a  venerable 
noble,  who  was  mounted  upon  a  snow-white  horse,  and 
attended  by  a  brilliant  retinue,  all  superbly  mounted. 
This  personage  extended  to  me  the  same  hospitable  and 
courteous  welcome  from  his  queen,  which  had  been  pre 
sented  to  me  from  the  others.  He  rode  by  my  side, 
and  we  took  our  way  at  a  rapid  trot  along  an  avenue  ol 
alternate  obelisks  and  sphinxes,  until  we  passed  through 
a  pylon  which  opened  into  the  streets  of  the  city.  The 
splendor  around  bewildered  me.  Palaces,  witlT  gor 
geous  facades  and  triple  stories  of  colonnades,  composed 
street  after  street,  while  fountains  and  statues  and  propy- 
la,  temples,  monoliths,  andro-sphinxes  and  crio-sphinxes 
presented,  as  I  rode  along  through  this  superb  "  City  ot 
the  Sun,"  an  endless  spectacle  of  architectural  grand 
eur  and  marble  magnificence.  The  streets  were  thronged 
with  handsomely  attired  citizens,  either  in  the  pursuit  of 
pleasure  or  business,  while  priestly  processions,  festival 
parties  crowned  with  flowers  and  attended  by  musicians, 
and  bodies  of  horse,  were  met  by  us.  Gilded  chariots, 
palanquins,  and  vehicles  of  rare  and  graceful  forms,  were 
numerous.  The  whole  city  wore  an  air  of  pleasure  and 
life,  and  impressed  me  with  the  idea  that  the  Egyptians 
are  not  only  master-builders  in  architecture,  but  know 
how  to  enjoy  the  splendid  cities  they  erect  with  such 
costly  care. 

My  senses  sated  with  luxury,  I  was  not  unwilling  to 
alight  at  the  entrance  of  a  beautiful  palace,  which  the 


4:8  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

venerable  horseman  said  the  queen  had  placed  at  my 
service.  Upon  its  portico  I  was  met  by  my  private 
secretary,  Acherres,  who,  in  his  joy  at  beholding  me 
again,  forgot  for  a  moment  my  rank,  and  embraced  me 
with  tears  of  delight ;  for,  in  this  foreign  land,  he  saw 
in  me  alone  the  link  which  bound  him  to  his  native 
country. 

I  have  now  been  two  days  in  this  palace,  wherein 
is  furnished  me,  by  the  queen,  the  attendance  of 
slaves ;  and  every  luxury  of  Egypt  is  at  my  command. 
As  I  said  to  you,  dear  mother,  in  my  first  letter,  I  have 
yet  only  seen  the  Queen  of  Egypt  at  a  distance,  as  she 
was  ascending  the  steps  of  her  palace,  but  to-morrow  I 
am  formally  to  be  presented  to  her,  for  on  that  day  of 
the  week  alone  she  receives  princes  and  ambassadors. 
She  had  returned  four  days  before  to  Memphis,  from 
Phike,  with  a  great  retinue  of  the  lords  and  officers  of 
her  realm,  and  yesterday,  crossing  the  Nile  in  her  barge 
of  state,  she  entered  this  sacred  city,  which  she  visits  for 
three  days  every  month  to  perform  in  the  great  temple 
the  sacred  rites  of  her  gorgeous  religion.  Of  this  wor 
ship  I  will  soon  write  you  more  fully.  It  is  an  error, 
however,  to  suppose  that  these  enlightened  Egyptians 
worship  the  sun,  or  any  other  objects,  as  such,  of  mere 
matter.  Their  fundamental  doctrine  is  the  unity  of  the 
deity,  whose  attributes  are  represented  under  positive 
and  material  forms.  The  common  people  perhaps  never 
go  beyond  these  forms,  and  their  minds  never  are  ad 
mitted  to  a  knowledge  of  the  truth  of  the  mysteries;  but 
the  priests,  and  the  high  in  rank,  look  upon  the  sun,  and 
moon,  and  animals,  and  the  fecund  Nile,  only  as  so 
many  attributes  of  a  one  infinite  deity.  The  sun — 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  49 

believed  to  possess  much  of  the  divine  influence  in  its 
vivifying  power  and  its  various  other  effects — is  regard 
ed  as  one  of  the  grandest  agents  of  the  one  deity.  The 
moon  is  another  direct  manifestation  of  the  invisible 
author,  and  as  the  regulator  of  time,  say  their  sacred 
books,  is  figured  in  painting  and  sculpture  as  the  ibis- 
headed  Thoth,  and  the  deity  who  records,  as  time  ilies, 
the  actions  of  men's  lives.  Osiris,  if  I  understand  their 
mythology,  is  this  supreme  god  (symbolized  here  by  the 
sun),  who  is  also  the  judge  of  the  souls  of  the  dead,  re 
warding  or  punishing  hereafter  the  creatures  he  has  cre 
ated,  according  to  their  lives.  But  when  I  learn  more 
fully  their  system  of  religion,  I  will  explain  it  to  you, 
dear  mother. 

Although  I  have  not  seen,  to  speak  with  her,  the 
august  lady  who  reigns  over  Egypt,  I  have  been  visited 
by  her  son,  the  lord  Prince  Remeses.  I  have  already 
written  of  him.  He  is  in  his  thirty-fourth  year,  and  the 
noblest  appearing  man  my  eyes  ever  beheld.  Upon  his 
brow  the  gods  have  set  the  seal  and  impress  of  com 
mand.  I  will  narrate  the  manner  of  our  first  inter 
course. 

I  was  standing  by  the  window  of  the  stately  apart 
ment,  which  overlooks  one  of  the  squares  of  the  city, 
interested  in  watching  the  toils  of  several  hundred  men, 
coarsely  attired  in  blue  aprons  or  loin-cloths,  and  gray 
breeches  reaching  only  to  the  knee,  the  upper  part  of 
their  bodies  being  naked,  who  were  at  work  construct 
ing  a  wall  which  was  to  inclose  a  new  lake  before  the 
temple  of  Apis,  in  the  midst  of  the  square ;  for  On  is  a 
city  of  alternate  lakes  (all  of  great  beauty  and  adorned 
with  trees),  temples,  squares,  and  palaces,  interspersed 

3 


50  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

with  dromos  of  sphinxes  connecting  court  after  court, 
through  lofty  pylones ;  while  obelisks,  statues,  and  foun 
tains  fill  up  the  interspaces. 

My  window  not  only  commanded  a  view  of  these  labor 
ers  with  their  heavy  burdens  of  bricks,  borne  on  their 
shoulders  to  the  top  of  the  wall  they  were  building,  but 
also,  beyond  the  wall  and  distant  temples,  a  glimpse  ol  the 
yellow  expanse  of  the  desert.  How  mighty,  and  grand, 
and  solemn  it  looked  in  its  loneliness  and  ocean-like 
vastness  !  A  faint  dark  line  that  I  at  length  perceived 
in  motion,  was,  doubtless,  a  caravan  coming  from  the 
haven  of  the  Red  Sea,  where  the  galleys  from  Farthei 
Ind  land  their  precious  freights  of  untold  wealth.  This 
caravan  seeks  the  port  of  On,  six  miles  below  on  the  Nile, 
wdience  sail  ships,  laden  with  the  treasures  of  the  cara 
van,  to  all  parts  of  the  known  earth.  Sesostris,  Thoth- 
mes,  Menes,  all  planned  a  canal  from  the  Nile  to  this 
sea ;  but  the  camels  are  the  only  ships,  to  this  day,  that 
cross  this  desert  waste.  Again  my  eyes  rested  upon  the 
laborers,  seeing  that  they  were  sorely  pressed  b}  "cruel 
task-masters,  who,  with  long  rods,  urged  them  to  theii- 
ceaseless  toil.  I  perceived,  then,  Jiat  they  were  men 
with  Syrian  features,  arched  eagle  noses,  long  black 
beards,  and  narrow  but  fine  eyes,  which  seemed  to  have 
a  strange  expression  of  tears  in  them  There  were 
among  them  noble  and  manly  men,  handsome  youths, 
though  pale  with  toil,  and  bent  forms  of  aged  men.  I 
marvelled  to  see  so  fine  a  race  thus  in  bondage,  as  slaves 
under  task-masters,  for  in  the  day  of  the  Phoenician 
Pharaohs,  there  were  no  such  bondmen  in  the  land  of 
Egypt.  From  their  remarkable  likeness  to  some  natives 
of  Mesopotamia  I  had  seen  in  Tyre,  I  judged  that  they 


ISRAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  51 

must  be  captives  of  that  ancient  Orient  people,  taken  in 
the  wars  of  Amunoph. 

While  I  was  regarding  them,  and  especially  an  inter 
esting  youth,  whose  dark  eyes,  as  he  staggered  under  a 
heavy  burden  of  bricks,  were  turned  up  to  me  as  if  seek 
ing  sympathy,  Acherres  entered  and  said : 

u  My  lord  Sesostris,  the  mighty  Prince  Kemeses  is 
alighting  from  his  chariot  upon  the  steps  of  your  pal 
ace  !" 

Upon  hearing  this  news  1  hastened  to  the  portico, 
wondering  if  I  were  to  be  honored  with  a  personal  visit 
from  the  lord  of  Egypt,  ere  the  queen  mother  should  re 
ceive  me  in  state. 

Upon  reaching  the  circular  peristyle  hall  within  the 
portico,  the  sedile  of  my  palace  opened  the  gilded 
doors,  and  there  stood  before  me  the  Prince  of  Egypt. 
I  have  already  described  his  noble  presence  and  per 
sonal  appearance.  Upon  seeing  me  he  advanced,  waving 
his  attendants  to  withdraw,  and  with  mingled  dignity 
and  sweetness,  that  at  once  won  my  heart,  said : 

"  I  welcome  you,  noble  Prince  of  Tyre,  to  Egypt !  I 
have  been  engaged  in  reviewing  the  army  of  the  Nile. 
a  day's  march  hence,  and  heard  but  yesterday  of  your 
arrival.  I  hail  you,  not  as  a  stranger,  but  as  cousin, 
dear  Sesostris ;  for  are  we  not  allied  by  blood  ?" 

"  You,  my  lord  prince,"  I  said,  "  are  descended  from 
two  lines  of  kings — the  Syrian  and  Theban — I  from  but 
one.  But  by  that  one  we  are  indeed  of  the  same  blood. 
But  what  is  a  prince  of  Tyre,  compared  with  the  heir  to 
the  throne  of  Egypt  ?" 

"  We  are  to  be  friends  and  equals,"  he  said,  smiling, 
as  he  pressed  my  hands.  I  accepted  this  pledge  of 


52  THE    PILLAR   OF    FIRE,    OR 

friendship  with  grateful  emotion,  my  dear  mother ;  and 
from  that  moment  we  became  as  brothers, — he  the  elder, 
I  the  younger,  and  looking  up  to  him  with  admiration 
and  pride,  as  henceforth  my  model  of  what  a  prince 
should  be. 

lie  remained  with  me  three  hours.  We  discoursed  of 
you,  of  Tyre,  of  the  beautiful  city  of  Damascus, — my 
sword  of  Damascene  steel  attracting  his  notice  (for  he 
is  a  famous  soldier),  and  leading  to  the  mention  of 
this  city.  We  talked  also  of  Egypt,  and  her  glory,  and 
her  power;  of  the  quee.ii,  his  mother,  and  the  manners, 
religion,  and  policy  of  the  kingdom. 

But,  my  dear  mother,  I  will  here  close  this  letter,  and 
in  another  relate  to  yon  what  passed  at  our  interview, 
and  the  most  interesting  portion  of  his  conversation. 

Your  devoted  son, 

SESOSTRIS. 


ISRAEL  IN  BONDAGE.  53 


LETTEE   III. 

THE  CITY  OF  THE  SUN. 
Mr  DEAK  MOTHER: 

THE  climate  of  this  land  of  the  Sun  is  so  delightful 
to  the  senses  that  one  feels  a  constant  buoyancy  of  the 
heart,  and  experiences  in  the  consciousness  of  mere 
existence,  an  undeh'nable  and  delicious  joy  ;  and  herein 
I  discover  the  key  to  the  cheerful  gayety  of  the  Egyp 
tians.  The  skies  are  blue  with  eternal  sunshine.  The 
atmosphere,  free  from  moisture,  is  so  transparent  and 
crystalline,  that  distant  objects  lose  one  half  their  dis 
tance  to  the  eye.  The  sun  rises  ever  with  cloudless 
splendor,  and  sets  in  a  sea  of  golden  glory,  without  a 
shadow  of  a  cloud  falling  upon  his  fiery  disk.  The  moon 
sails  by  night  across  the  starry  ocean  of  the  heavens, 
with  a  brilliancy  unknown  in  other  lands ;  while  the 
stars  burn  with  an  increased  intensity,  and  seem  en 
larged  by  means  of  the  purity  of  the  upper  air  through 
which  we  behold  them.  It  is  no  marvel  that  the 
dwellers  in  this  happy  land  are  wise,  and  love  art,  and 
delight,  in  forms  of  beauty,  and  build  palaces  for  gods ! 
But  I  promised  in  my  last  letter,  dear  mother,  to 
describe  what  particularly  passed  in  the  long  and  inter 
esting  interview  which  the  Prince  Remeses  had  with 
*ne  on  his  first  visit  to  my  palace.  I  have  already 


54:  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE   OR, 

described  his  personal  appearance  ;  but,  as  ladies  are 
always  interested  in  costume,  I  will  relate  to  you  how 
he  was  attired. 

The  Egyptians,  you  are  aware,  always  shave  the  head 
and  beard  closely,  save  when  in  mourning.  They  have 
nevertheless  a  plaited  lock  of  hair  on  the  height  of  the 
forehead,  which  falls  down  over  the  ear.  Such  is  the 
fashion  with  which  the  youthful  god  Horus  is  repre 
sented  in  paintings  and  statues,  though  the  beautiful 
locks  of  this  deity  are  not  so  closely  removed  but  that  a 
crest  of  golden  tresses  covers  the  top  of  his  head  like 
the  plume  of  a  helmet.  Something  in  this  manner 
Prince  Remeses  wore  the  lock  of  jet-black  hair  which 
remained.  But  upon  his  head  he  had  a  rich  cap  or 
kaftan  of  green  silk,  the  front  of  which  was  shaped  like 
the  beak  of  an  eagle,  while  behind,  it  fell  to  the  shoul 
ders  in  a  sort  of  cape,  fashioned  like  drooping  wings — 
the  whole  most  becoming  and  striking.  In  the  eyes  of 
the  eagle, blazed  diamonds,  and  his  plumage  was  studded 
with  precious  stones,  beryls,  sardine  gems,  and  the  onyx- 
stone.  This  head-costume,  in  varied  forms,  is  worn  by 
all  the  nobles  and  men  of  high  rank.  With  some  the 
ibis  or  the  vulture,  with  others  the  lion  or  the  hawk, 
form  the  insignia.  I  have  seen  him  since  in  his  chariot, 
in  a  close-fitting  helmet-cap  of  burnished  gold,  resem 
bling  that  of  the  Egyptian  god  of  war,  which,  with  his 
martial  form  and  commanding  glance,  lent  to  him  the 
aspect  of  the  god  himself! 

His  vesture  was  of  fine  linen,  worn  in  numerous 
folds  about  his  form ;  and  a  surcoat  embroidered  with 
gold  in  royal  devices,  left  open  in  front,  displayed 
a  girdle  of  links  of  steel  and  gold,  exquisitely  and  cun- 


ISRAEL  IN  BONDAGE.  55 

ningly  woven,  to  wliicli  hung  his  jewelled  sword. 
About  liis  neck  was  fastened,  by  a  pearl  of  price,  a 
collar  of  the  red-lined  gold  of  Ophir,  massive  and  large  ; 
and  upon  his  manly  chest  glittered  a  breastplate,  spark 
ling  with  the  enamelled  cartouch  of  the  god  Athothis, 
the  deity  who  presided  at  his  birth,  and  who  is  the  same 
as  our  Taut,  the  inventor  of  letters. 

And  here  let  me  remark,  that  writing  by  letters  is 
scarcely  yet  known  in  Egypt,  the  hieroglyphic  form 
being  still  in  current  use ;  but  Hemeses  has  cultivated 
the  Phoenician  art,  and  writes  with  a  character  of  his 
own  construction,  with  the  facility  and  beauty  of  one  of 
our  own  men  of  letters.  Ere  long,  through  his  influ 
ence,  this  form  of  writing  will  supersede  wholly  the 
hieroglyph,  which  is  cumbersome  and  difficult  to  be 
understood,  save  by  a  native-born  Egyptian  ;  yet  I  have 
commenced  the  study  of  it,  and  can  read  already  the 
cartouch  of  Mitres,  on  his  obelisk  over  against  the  por 
tico  of  my  residence.  Of  this  obelisk,  which  is  ninety- 
nine  feet  high,  it  is  said  that  when  it  was  about  to  be 
elevated  to  its  position,  he  employed  20,000  workmen, 
and  apprehensive  that  the  engineer  would  not  raise  it 
with  sufficient  care,  he  bound  the  prince  his  son  to  the 
apex  wrhile  it  lay  on  the  ground,  and  thus  effectually 
guaranteed  the  safety  of  his  monument.  This  was  many 
centuries  ago ;  but,  as  I  gazed  to-day  upon  the  towering 
apex,  I  could  not  but  think,  with  a  tremor  of  the  nerves, 
of  the  hapless  young  prince  as  he  mounted  into  the  sky, 
on  that  slow  and  perilous  journey ! 

Have  I  not  been  digressing,  dear  mother?  But  you 
inust  _notj  ju  familiar  letters,  look  for  artistic  conti 
nuity  of  narrative.  *  I  shall  digress,  or  go  from  subject 


56  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

to  subject,  as  collateral  objects  suggest  themselves  in 
passing  them ;  but,  nevertheless,  I  shall  not  leave  your 
curiosity  unsatisfied  upon  any  matter  which  I  have 
commenced,  but  in  due  time,  from  every  digression, 
shall  return  to  it.  I  will,  therefore,  this  apology  once 
for  all,  return  to  the  princely  Remeses. 

He  wore  upon  his  right  hand  a  signet-ring  of  silver, 
once  belonging  to  his  ancestor,  Amosis,  the  leader  of 
the  XYIIIth  dynasty ;  and  also  a  large  ring  of  pure 
gold,  set  with  a  chrysoprasus,  and  bearing  the  shield  of 
Osirtasen  I.,  or  Sesostris — for  lie  has  both  names  in 
history — for  whom  I  am  named. 

In  all  respects  he  was  attired  with  magnificence,  and 
yet  with  simplicity,  as  became  a  man  of  taste  and  a 
prince.  The  profuse  ornaments  of  jewelry,  with  which 
I  perceive  the  nobles  about  the  court  load  themselves, 
his  good  sense  disdains.  He  retains  only  the  insignia 
belonging  to  his  high  rank. 

I  have  said  that  his  hair  is  raven-black,  and  may  add 
that  his  eyes  are  large,  expressive,  heavily-lidded,  and 
with  a  peculiar  expression  of  mingled  softness  and  bril 
liancy.  Unlike  the  Egyptians,  his  features  are  truly 
Syriac,  wTith  the  high  arched  nose  and  full  red  lips  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  city  of  Damascus.  Do  you  remember 
wrhen  we  last  year  visited  Damascus,  seeing,  in  the 
painted  chamber  of  the  adytum  of  the  mausoleum  of  E15- 
ezer,  a  representation  of  the  Hebrew  prince  Abram,  of 
Syria?  To  that  venerable  prince,  whose  virtues  and 
wisdom  tradition  would  have  preserved,  even  if  he  had 
not  erected  this  tomb  to  his  own  and  his  master's 
memory,  Eliezer  was  chamberlain  <jr  steward  for  many 
years.  Returning  to  Damascus  with  great  wealth,  which 


ISRAEL  IN  BONDAGE.  57 

Abram  had  bestowed  upon  him,  he  brought  with  him. 
from  Egypt,  where  he  had  once  been,  a  cunning  artist  in 
colors,  who  decorated  the  tomb  he  erected  for  himself, 
in  that  wonderful  manner  which  has  excited  the  admi 
ration  of  all  beholders.  But,  dear  mother,  beautiful  as 
that  is,  and  well  preserved  as  it  has  been  for  four  hundred 
years,  it  is  not  to  be  compared  with  art  in  Egypt  at  the 
present  day.  You  remember  you  were  struck  with  the 
majesty  and  almost  celestial  sublimity  of  the  old  shep 
herd  prince's  face,  which  the  affection  of  his  steward  has 
preserved.  You  spoke  of  the  eagle-like  nose,  the  dark, 
yet  tearful-looking  eyes,  with  the  drooping  lid  just 
casting  into  shadow  the  depth  of  its  inner  light.  You 
remember  the  nobly  shaped  head  and  commanding 
brow.  Such  a  head  and  profile  is  that  of  Remeses,  the 
Prince  of  Egypt.  My  first  look  at  his  face  recalled  the 
portrait  in  the  tomb,  which  its  founder  has  so  beautifully 
and  modestly  inscribed : 

"ELIEZER  OF  DAMASCUS, 

THE     STEWARD     OF     ABEAM, 

PRINCE 
BELOVED    OF   THE    GODS." 

After  I  had  received  Remeses  into  my  house,  I  con 
ducted  him  through  a  two-valved  door,  opened  before 
us  by  my  chief  butler,  into  the  superb  apartment  allotted 
for  recreation  and  repose.  My  mansion  consisted  of  a 
court  encircled  by  columns,  and  from  it  extended  corri 
dors  to  various  chambers.  The  court  is  crossed  by 
avenues  of  trees,  while  fountains  and  flowering  plants 
refresh  the  eye  in  every  direction. 


58  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

The  apartment  into  winch  Beineses  came  with  me, 
was  divided  into  tall  panels,  upon  which  were  executed, 
in  the  most  brilliant  colors,  the  fairest  pictures.  These 
panels  were  intercoluinnar,  each  column  adorned  with 
carvings  of  leaves  and  flowers,  and  terminating  in  a 
capital  in  imitation  of  an  open  lotus.  This  room  was 
open  to  the  air,  but  shielded  from  the  sun  by  a  purple 
awning  that  extended  to  its  four  sides,  and  was  a  little 
raised  above  the  walls  upon  the  columns,  so  that  the 
breezes,  which  were  wafted  over  the  gardens  of  flowers, 
might  freely  enter. 

This  wras  my  reception-room,  or  mdndam,  as  it  is 
termed.  A  beautiful  cornice  surrounds  the  whole  room. 
The  furniture  is  of  the  most  tasteful  and  luxurious  de 
scription,  and  of  forms  and  uses  unknown  to  our  severer 
Syrians.  There  are  tables  of  Arabian  wood,  inlaid  with 
ivory ;  sofas  of  ebony  and  other  rare  materials,  covered 
with  silken  cushions ;  a  chair  ornamented  with  the  skin 
of  a  leopard  ;  another,  of  still  more  graceful  outline,  em 
broidered  with  silk  and  threads  of  gold;  another,  the 
frame  of  which  recedes  gradually,  terminating  at  its 
summit  in  a  graceful  curve,  and  supported  by  resting 
upon  the  back  of  a  swan  with  feathers  of  ivory.  A 
chair  for  repose  is  covered  with  gilded  leather,  and 
arched  by  a  rich  canopy  of  painted  flowers,  birds,  and 
fancy  devices.  The  legs  of  all  these  chairs  were  in 
imitation  of  some  wild  beast,  while  the  arms  represented 
in  ivory  or  ebony  the  beaks  of  birds, — that  of  the  ibis, 
sacred  as  it  is,  being  the  favorite.  There  are  couches, 
too,  which  are  nothing  more  nor  less  than  crouching 
lions  gilded,  upon  the  backs  of  which  the  sleeper  reposes 
on  gorgeous  housings  stuffed  with  the  softest  down. 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  59 

The  shapes  of  the  furniture  exhaust  all  forms.  There 
are,  in  some  of  my  rooms,  chairs  shaped  like  harps, 
others  like  leaves  of  the  fig-tree,  others  like  birds. 
Tables  of  ebony  are  supported  on  the  heads  of  naked 
Nubian  slaves  two  feet  high,  carved  in  ebony,  while  the 
bronze  lamps  are  uplifted  upon  the  palm  of  a  dancing 
girl  cast  in  bronze,  who  seems  to  hold  the  light  for  you 
while  you  read  or  write.  Carpets  and  foot-stools,  cov 
ered  with  embroidery,  are  not  wanting ;  and  I  have 
three  round  tables — one  of  metal,  one  of  ivory,  one  of 
ebony — polished  like  mirrors  of  steel.  These  are  cov 
ered  with  ornaments  of  the  most  exquisite  finish  and 
beauty ;  and  before  my  window  where  I  write  is  a  sort 
of  bureau  ornamented  with  hieroglyphics,  carved  in 
intaglio,  inlaid  with  sycamore,  tamarisk,  and  palm 
woods,  and  enriched  with  bosses  of  solid  gold. 

In  this  apartment  I  received  Remeses.  Placing  a  seat 
by  the  window,  I  sat  near  him.  For  a  moment  he  survey 
ed  me  with  a  close  but  courteous  scrutiny,  such  as  stran 
gers  irresistibly  cast  upon  each  other  after  a  first  meeting. 

"  I  hope  you  are  at  home  here,  noble  Sesostris,"  he  said. 
"  This  is  one  of  my  palaces,  but  I  have  more  than  I  can 
make  use  of,  such  is  the  bounty  and  affection  of  my 
mother." 

"I  have  every  comfort  and  luxury — more  than  I 
desire,"  I  answered.  "I  was  not  prepared  to  find  in 
Egypt  such  splendor  and  magnificence.  The  half,  my 
noble  prince,  has  not  been  told  the  world." 

"And  yet  you  have  seen  but  a  small  portion  of  this 
kingdom,"  he  said,  with  a  smile  of  pardonable  pride. 
"  Although  On  is  the  city  of  palaces  and  temples,  for 
there  is  a  temple  to  each  of  the  three  hundred  and  sixty 


60  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

gods  of  our  calendar  year,  yet  Memphis  is  the  true  seat 
of  our  empire.  We  rule  Egypt  from  Memphis  :  we 
worship  the  gods  from  On." 

"  But  is  not  the  great  god  Apis  the  peculiar  deity  of 
Memphis?"  I  asked  ;  "  and  is  not  his  worship  the  most 
magnificent  and  imposing  on  earth?" 

"  Yet  here  in  the  City  of  the  Sun  is  the  temple  of 
Mnevis,  the  sacred  ox  of  On,  honored  with  a  worship  as 
profound  and  universal  as  that  of  Apis." 

"  But  do  the  more  polished  Egyptians  indeed  worship 
the  ox,  either  here  or  in  Memphis  ?"  I  asked  with  some 
hesitation,  for,  as  prince,  Remeses  is  first  priest  of  the 
realm,  next  to  the  high-priest  of  Osiris. 

"  Do  not  fear  to  ask  freely  any  questions,  my  dear 
Sesostris,"  he  said.  "We  do  not  worship  these  ani 
mals.  They  are  but  the  embodiment  of  attributes.  Under 
both  of  these  gods,  at  On  and  at  Memphis,  Osiris  the 
great  Ju<Jge  of  men  is  veiled.  They  are  but  the  living 
images  of  Osiris.  The  origin  of  their  introduction  is 
unknown  save  to  the  priests,  whose  office  it  is  to  keep 
the  records  of  all  things  appertaining  to  religion." 

"What  is  revealed  concerning  the  history  of  Osiris?" 
I  asked ;  "  for  I  am  at  a  loss  to  understand  the  exact 
relation  a  deity  known  over  the  world  by  name,  but  of 
whose  worship  little  is  understood,  holds  to  Egypt  and  to 
the  other  gods.  At  home,  in  Syria,  I  have  marvelled 
how  the  Egyptian  mythology  could  stand,  when  made 
up  of  such  contradictory  elements, — a  part  directing  the 
worship  of  an  invisible  divinity,  and  a  part  directing 
the  adoration  of  the  hosts  of  heaven  and  beasts  of  the 
earth.  In  Phoenicia  we  worship  the  Invisible  through 
the  sun,  as  his  representative.  We  worship  nothing 


ISRAEL  IN  BONDAGE.  61 

earthly.  In  Palestine,  south  of  us,  Ashteroth,  Belus, 
and  images  of  stone  and  brass  are  adored,  but  not  with 
us." 

"  The  Egyptians,  through  all  their  forms,  and  by  all 
their  gods,  adore  the  Supreme  Infinite,  my  Scsostris," 
said  the  prince.  "  The  history  of  our  faith  is  briefly 
this,  according  to  common  tradition  :  Osiris  was  in  the 
beginning  the  one  lord  of  worlds  ;  the  sun  of  truth  and 
the  glory  of  his  universe.  lie  came  upon  earth  for  the 
benefit  of  mankind.  Before  his  coining,  the  ox  and  all 
other  animals  were  wild,  and  of  no  service  to  man. 
The  Nile  was  a  terror  to  Egypt.  Vegetation  had  per 
ished.  He  came  as  a  '  manifester  of  good  and  truth,'  as 
saith  the  great  golden  book  in  the  Hall  of  Books.  He 
entered  into  all  things,  and  infused  his  life,  and  good, 
and  uses  into  all.  He  bound  the  Nile  to  its  banks,  by 
breasting  its  flood  and  subduing  it.  His  spirit  passed 
into  the  bull,  and  all  cattle.  He  tempered  the  heat  of 
the  sun,  and  drew  the  poison  from  the  moon.  The 
earth  became  his  bride,  under  the  name  of  Isis;  and 
brought  forth  Horns,  and  the  order  of  equal  times,  and 
thus  man  was  benefited  and  the  earth  made  habitable. 
Upon  this,  his  brother  Sethis,  who  represented  '  evil,'  as 
Osiris  did  '  good,'  sought  his  destruction,  and  caused  him 
to  be  hated  and  put  to  death.  He  was  buried,  and  rose 
again,  and  became  the  judge  of  the  dead.  And  this 
legend  or  fable  is  the  foundation,  noble  Sesostris,  of  our 
mythology.  The  sun,  moon,  Nile,  animals,  and  vegeta 
bles 'even,  are  regarded  as  sacred,  therefore,  because  the 
spirit  c  r  soul  of  Osiris  had  been  infused  into  them,  to 
change  them  from  evil  to  good.  Thus  one  god  is  wor 
shipped  through  visible  objects,  which  he  has  consecra- 


(32  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

ted, — objects  once  his  temples  and  abodes  ;  for,  says  the 
sacred  record,  he  had  to  enter  into  every  thing  which  he 
restored  to  the  use  of  man." 

"  The  mythology  of  Egypt,"  I  said,  "  is  at  once  re 
lieved,  O  prince,  from  the  charge  of  grossness  and  su 
perstition  which  has  been  attached  to  it.  I  can  now 
understand  more  clearly  your  system  of  religion." 

"The  mysteries  of  our  religion  are  still  -unfathoma 
ble,"  answered  Remeses.  "  It  is  doubtful  if  they  are 
fully  comprehended  by  the  priests.  In  the  multiplicity 
and  diversity  of  objects  of  worship  I  am  often  confound 
ed,  and  it  is  a  relief  to  me  to  pass  by  all  material  forms 
of  Osiris,  and  send  my  mind  upward  only  to  him 
self!" 

"  That  is  a  noble  conception,  great  prince,"  I  said, 
admiring  the  lofty  and  almost  divine  expression  with 
which  this  pure  sentiment  lighted  up  his  fine  counte 
nance. 

"  But  the  people  of  Egypt  are  not  able  to  comprehend 
Deity  except  through  visible  forms ;  and,  in  order  to 
convey  an  impression  of  the  abstract  notions  men  form 
of  the  attributes  of  Deity,  it  will  always  be  necessary, 
perhaps,  to  distinguish  them  by  some  fixed  representa 
tion  ;  hence  the  figures  of  Osiris  under  the  various  forms 
in  which  he  is  worshipped,  of  Pthah,  of  Amun,  Neith, 
and  other  gods  and  goddesses,  were  invented  by  the  an- 
cieiit  priests  as  the  signs  of  the  various  attributes  of  the 
Deity.  And  as  the  subtlety  of  speculation  expanded 
the  simple  principles  of  our  mythology,  the  divine  na 
ture  was  divided  and  subdivided,  until  any  thing  which 
seemed  to  bear  any  analogy  to  it  was  deified,  received 
a  figure  or  form  as  a  god,  and  was  admitted  into  the 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  63 

Pantheon  of  the  kingdom,  to  a  share  of  the  worship  of 
the  people." 

"And  this  nicety  of  philosophical  speculation,"  I  said, 
"  must  have  given  rise  to  the  several  grades  of  deities  in 
Egypt." 

"  Yes ;  the  gods  of  the  first,  second,  and  third  orders : 
each  with  its  system  of  priesthood  and  rituals." 

"  In  all  this,  I  see  you  give  no  divine  honors  to  de 
parted  heroes,"  I  remarked. 

" JN"o.  Our  gods  are  none  of  them  deified  men.  They 
are  not  like  Bacchus,  and  Hercules,  and  other  of  the 
ancient  and  Syriac  deities,  who  were  human  heroes.  Our 
mythology  is  a  pure  spiritualism :  its  object,  Divinity, 
worshipped  by  emblems,  symbols,  signs,  figures,  and  rep 
resentative  attributes." 

"  It  is  a  pantheism,  then,  rather  than  a  polytheism,"  I 
remarked. 

"  You  speak  justly,  Sesostris,"  he  said.  "  The  figures 
of  our  gods,  which  you  see  hewn  in  marble,  painted  on 
temples,  standing  colossal  monoliths  in  the  entrance  of 
the  city,  are  but  vicarious  forms,  not  intended  to  be 
looked  upon  as  real  divine  personages.  Not  a  child  in 
Egypt  believes  that  a  being  exists,  with  the  head  of  a 
bird  joined  to  the  human  form — as  the  statue  of  Thoth, 
with  the  ibis  head,  in  front  of  the  temple  ;  or  under  the 
form  of  a  Cynocephalus,  having  the  horns  of  the  moon 
upon  his  head;  or  as  the  goddess  Justice,  without  a 
head ;  or  a  bird  with  the  head  of  a  woman ;  or  a  god 
with  a  ram-headed  vulture's  head,  or  that  of  a  hawk, 
like  the  deity  Horns';  or  Anubis,  with  the  head  of  a 
dog.  Why  these  unnatural  forms  were  chosen  as  em 
blems  of  these  gods,  the  priests  fancifully  explain,  and 


64  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

perhaps  in  many  cases  truly.  They  are  all,  simply  per 
sonifications  of  divine  attributes." 

"  Abuses,"  I  remarked,  when  he  had  thus  eloquently 
spoken,  "  must  naturally  flow  from  such  representations, 
and  these  emblems,  among  the  people,  soon  assume  the 
importance  of  the  divine  personages  to  which  they  ap 
pertain.  The  mass  of  the  population  must  be  idolaters." 

"  You  speak  truly.  They  are.  The  distinction  be 
tween  the  image  and  the  idea  which  it  represents  is  too 
subtle  for  the  ignorant ;  they  lose  sight  of  the  at 
tribute,  by  filling  the  whole  horizon  of  their  minds  with 
its  image.  Thus  the  Egyptian  mind  is  clearly  more  and 
more  being  drawn  away  from  its  ancient  spiritual  wor 
ship,  to  a  superstitious  veneration  for  images,  which 
originally  were  intended  only  to  control  and -fix  atten 
tion,  or  to  represent  some  religious  tradition  or  idea  of 
divinity." 

"Are  not  Apis,  the  sacred  .bull,  at  Memphis,  and 
Mnevis  at  On,  regarded  as  gods?"  I  asked. 

"  Only  as  the  soul  of  Osiris.  The  bull  is  the  most 
powerful  animal  in  all  Egypt,  and  hence  a  type  of  the 
Deity.  But  this  subject,  my  dear  Sesostris,"  added  the 
prince,  with  a  fine  look  of  friendship,  "  you  will  know 
more  of  by  and  by,  as  you  dwell  among  us.  I  will 
command  that  you  shall  have  every  facility  from  the 
priests,  and  also  from  the  philosophers  and  wise  men, 
in  your  further  studies  of  our  people.  I  am  happy  to 
have  given  you  your  first  lesson  in  Egyptian  lore." 

"  You  have  done  me  infinite  honor,  noble  Kemeses," 
I  replied,  returning  with  gratitude  his  looks  of  kindness. 
"  I  hope  ere  long  so  to  profit  by  your  information  as  to 
understand  your  ancient  system  of  religion.  From  what 


1SEAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  65 

you  have  said,  I  perceive  that  it  stands  above  all  others 
on  earth,  rightly  interpreted  ;  and  before  its  spiritual 
essence,  our  worship  in  Phoenicia — which  is  chiefly  a 
union  of  idolatry  and  Sabasanism. — is  pure  material- 


At  this  moment  we  rose,  as  by  one  impulse,  and 
walked  out  upon  the  terrace  to  enjoy  the  breeze  which 
was  waving  refreshingly,  to  our  eyes,  the  branches  of 
a  palm  that  stood  before  the  door.  The  day  was  in 
tensely  hot,  In  the  shade  of  the  columns  on  the  square, 
many  of  the  citizens  had  gathered  for  shelter  from  the 
sun's  beams.  But  still  in  its  burning  heat  the  bondmen) 
of  whom  I  have  spoken,  toiled  on,  with  their  burdens 

of  brick.      Not  far  off  were  a  score   under  one  task- 

» 

master,  who  stood  by  with  a  long  staff  with  which 
(lie  severely  beat  an  old  man, who  had  sunk  to  the  earth 
under  trie  combined  heat  of  the  sun  and  the  weight  lie 
was  compelled  to  bear.  My  heart  was  touched  at  once 
with  pity  and  indignation. 

Q'  What  unhappy  people  are  these,  O  prince,"  I  said, 
"  who  endure  such  heavy  labor  ?" 

("Jlebrews !"  he  answered,  haughtily  and  indifferently. 
"Hast  thou  not  heard  of  these  bond-slaves  of  our  land? 
They  have  been  in  Egypt  several  generations.  They 
build  our  cities,  our  walls,  our  canals.  They  number  two 
millions,  and  are  the  hereditary  slaves  of  the  Pharaohs." 
"  To  what  circumstances  do  they  owe  their  captivity  ?" 
I  asked. 

"  If  it  will  interest  you,  my  Sesostris,"  he  said,  "  I  will 
^at  another  time  relate  their  history." 

"  It  will  gratify  me  to  listen  to  it,"  I  answered.  "  I 
am  struck  with  the  Syriac  cast  of  their  features  " 


66  THE    PILLAR    OF   FIKE,    OR 

"Indeed!     They  originally  came  from  SyriaT)     Do 
they  preserve  still  the  lineaments  of  their  country  ?" 

"  Strikingly  so,"  I  answered. 

We  now  walked  the  noble  terrace  together,  while  lie 
pointed  out  to  me  the  prospect  from  it.  In  view  was 
one  half  the  city,  and  the  dark  "  Lake  of  the  Dead,"  of 
which  I  will  speak  hereafter ;  the  avenues  of  sphinxes  ; 
the  gigantic  gateways  or  pylones  and  obelisks  on  the 
river ;  and  the  mighty  Nile  itself,  flowing  like  an  ever- 
lengthening  sea  amid  the  fairest  scenery  of  earth.  Re 
posing  upon  its  bosom,  like  a  gigantic  floating  garden, 
was  visible  the;  noble  isle  of  Rhoda,  decked  with  gor 
geous  palaces, — one  of  which,  said  Remeses,  is  the 
favorite  home  of  his  royal  mother.  Still  beyond  this 
lovely  island  rose  from  the  water  the  gardens,  villas, 
palaces,  temples,  and  propyla  which  lay  between  Mem 
phis  and  the  river;  while  the  city  of  Apis,  "  the  diadem 
of  Egypt,"  in  all  the  glory  of  architectural  majesty  and 
beauty,  reposed  on  the  plain  beyond  ;  the  mighty  pyra 
mids,  with  their  winged  temples  and  colossal  dromos  of 
sphinxes,  filling  the  background  of  this  matchless  scene. 
Your  affectionate  son, 

SESOSTEIS. 


ISRAEL  IN  BONDAGE.  6T 


LETTEE   IV. 

CITY  OF  ON. 
DEAR  AND  KOYAL  MOTIIEE  : 

I  AM  still  in  the  City  of  the  Sun,  or  RE,  as  I  find 
it  is  often  called  by  the  Egyptians,  and  I  write  to  you 
from  the  palace  of  Remeses,  not  the  abode  which 
was  first  allotted  me,  but  in  apartments  in  his  own 
imperial  residence,  an  honored  sharer  of  his  table  and 
society. 

Here,  in  a  sumptuous  chamber,  the  walls  of  wliicli  are 
intercolumnar  panels,  enriched  by  paintings  on  gold  and 
blue  grounds,  tastefully  bordered  by  flowers  and  fruit,  I 
once  more  resume  my  peri  to  write  to  you  about  this 
wonderful  land. 

The  day  after  I  closed  iny  last  letter,  dear  mother,  a 
high  officer  from  the  Queen  Amense  alighted  from  his 
chariot  at  my  palace,  and  placed  in  my  hands  the  signet 
of  his  royal  mistress,  with  a  message  that  she  desired  me 
to  be  presented  to  her. 

1  had  already  received  an  intimation  from  the  prince 
of  this  intended  honor,  and  had  made  myself  ready, 
being  attired,  when  the  messenger  came,  in  the  full  cos 
tume  of  a  prince  of  Tyre,  save  the  golden  crown ;  instead 
of  which  I  wore  the  helmet-shaped  cap  of  Tyrian  gold 
thread,  which  was  presented  to  me  by  your  own  loved 


68  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

hands.  Over  my  shoulders  I  clasped  the  cloak  of  Tynan 
purple,  embroidered  by  the  hands  of  the  fair  princess 
Thamonda  ;  and  instead  of  my  sword  I  held  a  gold-tipped 
wand,  as  no  one  is  permitted  to  appear  before  the  queen 
with  arms.  These  wands  or  rods  are  carried  by  all 
Egyptians,  of  every  rank,  as  constant  companions ;  but 
their  value  and  beauty  are  regulated  by  the  position  and 
wealth  of  the  person, — those  of  nobles  being  tipped 
with  gold,  while  ivory,  ebony,  palm-wood,  and  com 
mon  woods,  are  the  materials  of  which  others  are  made. 
The  rod  borne  by  me  was  a  present  from  Remeses,  and 
near  the  burnished  gold  head  of  it  wras  a  massive  ring  of 
great  price,  bearing  his  royal  cartouch,  in  which  he  is 
called  "  Reineses-Moses,  Son  of  Pharaoh's  Daughter, 
and  Prince  of  Re  Memphis,  and  Thebes,  Son  of  the 
god  Nilus,  and  Leader  of  the  Sacred  Hosts." 

There  stood  in  front  of  my  palace  three  chariots,  two 
of  them  drawn  by  a  pair  of  beautifully  spotted  horses, 
while  to  the  third,  and  most  elegant,  were  harnessed 
four  snow-white  steeds.  A  burnished  shield  rising 
above  the  gracefully  curved  back,  showed  that  it  was  a 
royal  chariot.  The  charioteer  was  a  Nubian,  wearing 
bracelets,  of  gold,  as  well  as  otherwise  richly  attired.  The 
chariot  was  gorgeously  ornamented  at  the  sides  with 
ornaments  of  light  open-work.  It  was  lined  with  crim 
son  silk,  which  was  visible  through  the  interstices  of  the 
open  carvings.  These  chariots  had  two  wheels  ;  the 
pole  projected  from  the  middle  of  the  'axle,  and  was 
bent  upwards  at  a  short  distance  from  the  body  of  the 
carriage.  At  the  end  of  the  pole  the  yoke  was  fastened, 
and  each  horse  attached  to  the  car  by  a  single  trace, 
extending  on  his  inner  side  from  the  base  of  the  pole  to 


ISKAEL  IN  BONDAGE.  69 

the  saddle.  I  noticed,  too,  that  the  heads  of  the  spirited 
horses  were  borne  up  tight  by  a  rein  made  fast  to  a 
hook  in  front  of  the  saddle,  and  the  long  reins  passed 
through  a  loop  or  ring  at  the  side.  Also,  that  the  heads 
of  the  horses  were  adorned  with  lofty  plumes;  that  the 
harness  was  ornamented  with  silver  and  gold,  or  bur 
nished  brass,  while  upon  their  bodies  were  housings  of 
the  most  elaborate  and  beautiful  workmanship,  repre 
senting  royal  devices. 

One  of  these  superb  chariots  was  that  in  which  the 
queen's  officer  came.  In  the  other  sat  the  grand-cham 
berlain,  behind  his  charioteer.  The  third,  I  found,  was 
for  my  use.  Drawn  up,  hard  by,  there  were  not  less 
than  threescore  footmen  of  the  queen's  guard,  who, 
ranging  themselves  from  the  door,  paid  me  the  lowest 
obeisance  as  I  passed  to  my  chariot,  at  the  side  of 
•which  stood  the  venerable  and  stately  grand-chamber 
lain,  to  assist  me  to  enter  it. 

There  was  no  seat ;  for  the  Egyptians  stand  in  their 
chariots,  as  a  more  dignified  and  commanding  attitude, — 
a  custom  probably  derived  from  the  necessity  of  doing 
so  in  their  war-chariots,  in  order  to  combat.  I  have, 
however,  seen  three  or  four  very  light  and  elegant 
pleasure-chariots,  in  which  ladies  of  high  rank  were 
seated,  but  one  only  in  each.  But  when  the  queen 
rides,  she  stands  upon  a  dais  in  her  chariot,  and,  as 
she  is  borne  at  speed  by  six  horses  harnessed  abreast, 
she  has  the  air  and  port  of  a  flying  goddess.  The  eyes 
of  her  subjects  follow  her  as  if  she  were  a  meteor,  and 
gaze  after  her  with  admiration  and  awe. 

The  day  was  bright,  as  it  always  is  in  Egypt,  with  a 
cloudless  sun.  It  lighted  up  the  long  lines  of  palace* 


70  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

where  dwelt  priests  and  nobles,  illumined  the  propyla 
of  the  temples,  burnished  the  lakes,  gilded  the  obelisks, 
and  flooded  the  whole  City  of  the  Sun  with  magnifi 
cence  ; — for  there  is  a  splendor  and  glory  in  the  sunshine 
of  Egypt  unknown  in  other  lands,  the  result  of  the 
purity  of  the  crystalline  atmosphere. 

My  charioteer  dashed  onward  as  if  great  speed  was  a 
royal  pace.  Before  me  ran  footmen  with  wands  clear 
ing  the  avenue,  and  behind  came  the  swift-footed  re 
tainers,  while  on  each  side  of  me  rolled  the  two 
chariots.  Acherres,  my  secretary,  rode  near  upon  an 
Arabian  courser ;  and  his  superb  seat  in  the  saddle 
and  his  masterly  horsemanship  drew  the  applause  of 
the  Egyptians,  who  are  better  charioteers  than  horse 
men. 

After  a  dashing  ride  of  a  mile,  we  entered  a  vast 
square  which  I  had  not  before  seen.  It  extended  two 
thousand  feet  each  way.  In  the  centre  was  a  calm  lake 
basking-  in  the  sunshine.  Around  this  lake  was  a  bor- 

O 

der  of  palm-trees,  then  a  border  of  orange-trees  filled 
with  singing  birds,  while  in  their  shade  walked  groups 
of  handsomely  attired  people,  and  children  enjoyed  them 
selves  in  play.  Upon  the  lake,  ornamented  pleasure  gal 
leys  were  moving  in  various  directions,  and  a  spirit  ot 
enjoyment  pervaded  the  whole  scene.  Around  this  grand 
square  with  its  central  lake  were  arranged  as  follows :  on 
the  north  side  a  superb  colonnade  of  sculptured  columns, 
forming  the  facade  of  the  Temple  of  Mnevis,  the  sacred 
ox  of  On,  at  the  gate  or  propyla  of  which  crouched  two 
sphinxes,  with  majestic  human  heads.  On  the  west  side 
was  a  vast  paved  area,  in  the  centre  of  which  towered 
the  obelisk  of  Thothmes  the  Great.  This  area  is  inclosed 


ISRAEL  IN  BONDAGE.  71 

by  the  royal  armory,  an  edifice  expressive  of  strength 
and  grandeur  in  its  massive  and  warlike  proportions. 
On  the  east  is  a  pyramid  two  hundred  feet  high, 
in  front  of  which  two  sphinxes  with  heads  of  women 
and  bodies  of  birds  repose,  while  on  each  side  extends  a 
range  of  noble  pylones  opening  into  avenues  that  lead 
to  interior  courts.  This  singular  edifice  is  the  temple 
of  He,  and  sometimes  gives  its  name  to  the  city,  He 
being  also  another  name  for  the  sun.  On  the  fourth 
Bide  of  this  stupendous  area  rises  a  grand  palace,  which 
occupies  the  whole  space  of  the  breadth  of  the  square. 
I  can  only  describe  the  front  of  this  royal  palace  by 
representing  it  as  a  city  of  columns,  interspaced  at 
regular  intervals  by  noble  propyla,  'which,  in  their  turn, 
are  sculptured  and  adorned  in  such  profusion  as  to 
bewilder  the  eye  with  forms  of  beauty.  Two  sphinxes 
of  colossal  proportions,  with  the  bodies  of  lions  and  the 
heads  of  beautiful  women  wearing  double  crowns, 
guard  the  entrance  to  this  august  palace.  Upon  the 
terrace,  to  which  a  flight  of  broad  steps  ascended, 
stood  the  royal  guard  of  the  palace  like  statues,  each  of 
the  one  hundred  Theban  soldiers  leaning  upon,  his  spear, 
with  his  oval  shield  resting-  against  his  side. 

"We  drove  up  in  front,  and  between  the  heads  of  the 
sphinxes  I  alighted.  The  moment  I  did  so,  the  Theban 
guard  stood  to  their  arms,  and  their  captain,  with  a 
glittering  helmet  upon  his  head  and  holding  his  sword 
in  his  hand  reversed,  descended  to  receive  me.  Escorted 
by  him,  and  followed  by  the  grand-chamberlain,  I 
ascended  to  the  terrace  saluted  by  the  guard  with  the 
honors  paid  to  royalty.'  The  terrace  was  surrounded 
with  the  statues  of  the  kings  of  this  dynasty,  and  of  the 


72  THE    PILLAR    OF    FIRE,    OR 

Theban  Pharaohs;  but  the  Phoenician  Pharaohs  are 
not  now  numbered  among  the  kings  of  Egypt.  The 
terrace  led  into  a  circular  hall  which  was  richly  carved, 
gilded,  and  painted  with  historic  scenes,  battle-pieces, 
and  naval  combats.  Conspicuous  upon  a  panel,  directly 
in  front  of  the  entrance,  was  the  representation  of  the 
expulsion  of  the  Shepherd  Kings  from  Memphis.  In  the 
faces  of  the  monarchs  Amosis  and  Amunophis,  the  im 
mediate  ancestors  of  Prince  Remeses,  I  see  no  resem 
blance  to  him.  His  style  of  face  is  wholly  different 
from  the  heroes  of  the  dynasty  to  which  he  belongs.  His 
features  have  a  nobler  cast,  and  seem  to  belong;  to  a  man 

*  O 

of  a  higher  intellectual  development,  and  no  doubt  he  is 
superior  to  all  other 'Egyptians ;  for,  young  as  he  is,  his 
name  is  already  associated  with  all  that  is  wise,  and 
great,  and  true. 

The  entablature  of  the  next  hall  we  entered  was  a 
wonderful  sculpture.  It  represented  a  circle  of  beau 
tiful  girls  chained  together  by  wreaths  of  flowers,  and 
with  interlaced  arms,  bending  over  and  smiling  down, 
upon  those  in  the  hall,  each  extending  a  hand  holding  a 
vase.  There  was  a  unity  of  design  in  the  whole  of  the 
interior  of  this  adytum  or  presence-chamber,  with  the 
distribution  of  light  arid  the  groups  of  figures  shown  by 
it  on  the  walls,  that  surpassed  any  apartment  I  had  yet 
seen.  As  I  entered  this  enchanted  hall,  the  martial 
music  which  had  hailed  me  as  I  came  into  the  outer 
vestibule  ceased,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  most  ravish 
ing  sounds  of  instrumental  music  from  an  unseen  source. 
I  would  have  lingered,  but  there  advanced  a  beautiful 
youth,  all  clad  in  gold  and  purple,  it  seemed  to  me,  so 
richly  was  he  attired,  who  said : 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  73 

"  The  queen  desires  rne  to  conduct  the  noble  Prince 
of  Tyre  to  her  presence." 

I  followed,  and  before  him  opened,  as  if  by  their 
own  volition,  a  pair  of  two-leaved  doors  of  ivory,  inlaid 
with  emeralds.  The  throne-room  stood  before  me — if 
at,  apartment  a  thousand  feet  across  may  be  termed  a 
room.  I  stood  at  the  threshold  of  a  chamber  surrounded 
by  columns  ninety  feet  high.  A  guard  of  soldiers,  in 
silver  cuirasses  and  helmets  covered  with  silken  scarfs, 
inclosed  the  space.  An  avenue  of  statues  of  the  gods, 
in  the  centre,  led  for  eight  hundred  feet  to  the  throne. 
Along  this  avenue  was  arranged  a  brilliant  array  of 
officers,  in  armor  and  uniforms  of  the  most  dazzling 
description,  to  which  every  color  and  every  precious 
metal  contributed,  while  helm  and  cuirass,  of  those 
highest  in  rank, blazed  with  jewels.  I  advanced,  led  by 
the  beautiful  page,  in  whose  fine  black  eyes  and  long 
lashes,  arched  brow  and  aquiline  nose,  I  recognized  the 
now  well-known  lineaments  of  the  Hebrew  race.  He 
moved  with  his  eyes  cast  down.  I  experienced,  my  dear 
mother,  at  a  public  reception  so  august,  not  a  little  em 
barrassment  ;  but  I  repressed  it,  and  endeavored  to  re 
ceive  these  honors,  at  the  greatest  court  on  earth,  with 
the  ease  and  self-command  that  became  my  rank.  As 
I  drew  near  the  throne  the  scene  increased  in  magnifi 
cence.  At  length  two  statues  of  Osiris  and  Isis  termi 
nated  the  vista  I  had  traversed ;  and  I  saw  before  me  the 
throne  of  Egypt,  one  hundred  feet  in  front,  in  the  centre 
of  a  space  one  half  a  stadium  in  diameter,  and  elevated 
upon  a  dais  or  platform  of  variegated  marble,  twelve 
feet  from  the  floor.  This  noble  platform  was  square, 
and  ai  each,  of  the  four  corners  crouched  a  lion,  re- 


74  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

spectively  with  the  head  of  an  eagle,  a  sea-dragon  (no 
doubt,  a  fabulous  monster),  a  bull,  and  a  man — all, 
figures  representing  the  four  kingdoms  of  the  air,  the 
sea,  the  earth,  and  the  intellect  or  soul.  These  four 
colossal  beasts  faced  inward,  towards  the  throne,  to  sig 
nify  that  they  beheld  in  its  occupant  their  mistress  and 
sovereign.  Upon  their  heads  were  crowns,  namely,  of 
Thebes,  Memphis,  Re,  and  Ethiopia. 

The  platform,  upon  the  angles  of  which  crouched 
these  majestic  figures,  was  ascended  by  four  nights  of 
steps  of  red  Syene  fetone,  inlaid  with  precious  stones. 
There  were  seven  steps  to  each  ascent,  representing  the 
seven  mouths  of  the  Nile  by  which  the  land  of  Egypt  is 
approached.  These  symbols  were  subsequently  ex 
plained  to  me  by  Remeses ;  but  I  describe  them  now, 
as  I  may  not  again  have  an  opportunity  of  so  doing 
in  the  varied  scenes  and  subjects  that  challenge  my 
attention. 

In  the  midst  of  this  elevation,  rising  island-like  in  the 
centre  of  the  "  Hall  of  The  Pharaohs,"  stood  the  throne 
itself.  It  was  separated  from  every  object  in  solitary 
splendor,  a  space  of  many  yards  being  left  on  all  sides 
of  the  polished  floor,  in  the  brilliancy  of  which  not 
only  the  throne  itself,  but  the  heads  of  the  foui 
sphinxes,  were  reflected.  How  shall  I  give  you,  deal 
mother,  a  just  conception  of  the  throne-chair?  It  was 
of  the  purest  ivory,  carved  with  wonderful  beauty.  The 
simple  grandeur  of  its  form  and  material  was  more 
impressive  than  the  most  gorgeous  display  of  gilding 
and  precious  stones.  Its  shape  was  not  unlike  that  of  a 
chariot,  the  back  curving  gracefully  over  the  head  of 
the  occupant,  and  terminating  in  an  expanded  canopy  of 


ISRAEL   IN"  BONDAGE.  75 

feathers,  all  of  ivory,  yet  so  thin  and  delicately  executed 
that  they  waved  in  the  south  breeze  that  stirred  through 
the  hall.  This  chariot-shaped  throne  rested  upon  the 
bodies  of  two  Nigritian  lion-leopards  of  Rhodian  marble, 
between  which  three  steps  ascended  to  the  seat  of  the 
chair.  The  seat  was  a  single  pearl,  a  gift  from  the 
Queen  of  Ind  to  Amunophis  the  Great,  the  father  of 
Amense. 

The  footstool  of  this  beautiful  throne  was  a  single  onyx- 
stone  in  a  border  of  gold,  standing  upon  does'  feet,  each 
of  which  was  a  ruby.  The  carpet  before  the  throne  was 
woven  of  the  plumage  of  the  bird-of-paradise  inter 
mingled  with  that  of  birds  of  India  and  Arabia,  of 
divers  colors.  Skins  of  lions  and  leopards,  fringed 
with  gold-thread,  lay  upon  the  mirror-like  floor  of  the 
dais,  from  the  footstool  to  the  steps  which  descended 
from  the  platform,  or  no  footstep  could  have  crossed  it, 
so  high  was  the  polish  of  the  marble  surface. 

High  above  the  throne  was  a  canopy  of  blue  silk  ex 
tending  over  the  whole  dais,  and  representing  the  signs 
of  the  heavens  when  Amense  was  born,  with  the  pre 
siding  constellation  delineated  in  its  vertical  position. 
Imagine  this  court  of  the  throne,  a  peristyle  of  aquama 
rine  and  white  columns,  with  capitals  carved  in  imita 
tion  of  flowers,  and  the  shafts  enriched  by  painting  and 
sculpture  ;  surround  it  with  gorgeously  attired  courtiers, 
their  eyes  fixed  upon  the  queen ;  behold  at  the  steps 
of  the  dais  the  highest  officers  of  her  court,  awaiting 
with  looks  of  homage.  On  each  side  of  the  throne 
itself  stand  the  two  military  princes  of  her  realm,  one 
who  commands  her  armies,  the  other  her  navies.  They 
are  in  the  full  costume  of  their  high  rank,  and  glitter 


76  THE    PILLAK   OF   FIRE,    OR 

with  jewels.  Behind  the  throne,  near  two  stately  figures 
representing  Truth  and  Justice,  is  a  brilliant  guard  of 
honor,  called  "pages  of  the  throne-room,"  who  are  sons 
of  nobles,  and  whose  place  in  public  is  always  near  die 
person  of  the  queen.  Their  hands  are  so  laden  with 
rings  that  they  appear  rather  like  a  chain  of  gold  and 
jewels  held  therein.  They  wear  orange-colored  jewelled 
bonnets  and  necklaces,  and  carry  blue  wands  tipped 
with  pearls. 

I  have  now  described,  dear  mother,  all  the  externals 
of  the  scene  into  which  I  was  presented,  in  order  that 
you  may  form  some  idea  of  the  glory  and  majesty  of  this 
court,  and  the  style  of  its  magnificent  monarchs.  I  will 
now  corne  to  the  central  person,  around  whom  is  gath 
ered  all  this  courtly  splendor  and  architectural  grandeur. 

As  I  advanced  towards  the  steps  of  the  dais,  two  chief 
officers  in  flowing  linen  robes,  and  wearing  chains  of 
gold  about  their  necks,  drew  near,  when  my  Hebiuw 
page  fell  back,  giving  them  place. 

One  of  these  dignified  personages  said  to  me  in  pure 
Syriac,  for  the  Egyptians  are  learned  in  all  polite 


tongues — 


"  We  are  sent  to  lead  you  to  the  foot  of  the  stairs  of 
the  four  kingdoms." 

They  placed  themselves  one  on  each  side  of  me,  and 
as  I  came  to  the  seven  steps,  to  my  great  joy  I  beheld 
prince  Remeses  descending  them  to  welcome  and  re 
ceive  me;  for  the  majesty,  and  glory,  and  magnifi 
cence,  and  novelty  of  the  whole  scene  had  nearly 
overwhelmed  me  with  awe :  indeed,  I  felt  as  if  verily 
advancing  into  the  presence  of  the  enthroned  OSIRIS 
himself. 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.     *  77 

The  prince  looked  more  strikingly  noble  than  in  my 
first  interview.  He  was  attired  with  the  utmost  rich-  . 
ness,  and  looked  the  personification  of  kingly  dignity. 
He  was  now  distinguished  by  the  amplitude  of  his 
robes,  and  their  fineness,  and  a  girdle  ornamented  with 
the  urceus  or  royal  serpent.  All  his  garments  were  of 
the  lightest  and  finest  material,  instead  of  the  heavy  and 
costly  stuffs  which  form  the  robes  of  state  in  Phoenicia 
and  Assyria  ;  for,  as  my  own  embroidered  and  heavy 
mantle  showed  me,  such  material  would  be  out  of  place 
in  this  clime  of  perennial  summer.  He  wore  a  gorgeous 
vesture  embroidered  with  leaves,  and  a  silken  sash 
wound  about  his  body,  after  the  fashion  of  ancient 
Egyptian  princes,  which  sash  was  divided  into  three  dif 
ferent  folds,  over  which  fell  his  upper  garment  of  fine 
Persian  cloth,  with  long  sleeves,  also  embroidered.  The 
distinguishing  mark  of  his  rank,  as  a  prince  and  "  son," 
and  which  hung  down  the  side  of  his  face,  wras  the 
badge  of  the  god  Horns,  terminating  in  a  fringe  of  gold, 
of  a  fashion  worn  only  by  this  dynasty.  With  this 
badge  was  entwined  his  braided  lock  of  hair,  of  which  I 
have  before  spoken.  This  costume  is  arbitrary,  and  may 
not  be  changed,  as  the  laws  regulate  it  for  king,  priest, 
and  people  ;  therefore  do  I  so  particularly  describe  it. 

With  grace  and  dignity  he  saluted  me  before  the 
•whole  court,  saying,  "  Noble  prince,  with  pleasure  I 
present  you  to  my  mother  the  queen.  She  is  already 
prepossessed  in  your  favor,  and  welcomes  you  to  her 
court  with  distinctions  becoming  the  heir  to  the  throne 
of  Phoenicia,  and  our  royal  cousin." 

I  bowed  in  recognition  of  this  courtesy,  and  Remeses, 
taking  my  hand,  led  me  up  the  steps  of  the  dais.  The 


78  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

Queen  Amense,  seated  upon  her  ivory  throne,  awaited 
my  approach.  Remeses,  leading  me  to  within  three 
paces  of  her  footstool,  said,  with  a  low  obesiance  of  min 
gled  filial  reverence  and  princely  homage, — 

"  Mother  and  queen !  I  introduce  to  your  court,  Se- 
sostris,  Prince  of  Tyre!" 

I  also  did  profound  obeisance  to  the  majesty  of  the 
presence  near  which  I  stood,  and  then  fixed  my  eyes 
upon  the  mighty  potentate  about  to  address  me,  and 
presented  to  her  your  original  letter. 

As  she  opened  it,  I  observed  her  face.  I  beheld  be 
fore  me  a  woman  of  noble  aspect,  with  rich  brown  hair, 
slightly  silvered,  worn  with  severe  plainness  across  her 
temples.  Her  face  was  still  beautiful,  though  fifty- 
three  years  had  passed  over  her  head,  but  it  was  marked 
with  lines  of  thought  and  care.  What  her  fine  features 
had  lost  in  beauty,  they  had  gained  in  majesty.  They 
recalled  those  of  the  statue  of  Astarte,  in  the  temple  of 
the  Moon  at  Sidon ;  and,  in  truth,  her  air  and  port 
would  have  become  a  goddess.  Her  eyes  were  the  color 
of  her  hair — a  rich  sunny  brown,  like  that  of  the  Syrian 
women  of  Damascus ;  and  is  she  not,  by  descent  through 
Ephtha,  the  daughter  of  the  last  Phoenician  Pharaoh, 
allied  to  the  royal  line  of  Syro-Phcenicia  ?  I  never 
beheld  a  countenance  so  dignified,  yet  so  benign. 
Her  eyes  are  piercing,  and  imperial  in  their  glance ; 
and  she  carries  her  superb  head  with  a  consciousness  of 
dominion.  I  did  not  marvel  longer  at  her  vast  power 
over  her  subjects,  and  their  submission,  as  well  as  that 
of  the  kingdoms  around  her,  to  the  rule  of  her  will. 

Upon  her  head  she  wore  the  double  diadem  of  the 
Thebaid  and  Memphis,  symbol  that  the  sovereignty  of 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  79 

Upper  and  Lower  Egypt  is  vested  in  her  person.  The 
inner  crown  was  a  graceful  conical  bonnet  of  white  silk, 
sown  with  pearls  and  lined  with  cloth  of  silver,  termi 
nating  in  a  knob,  like  a  pomegranate  bud,  which  is  the 
emblem,  I  believe,  of  Upper  Egypt.  The  outer  crown, 
which  is  similar  to  that  worn  by  the  Phoenician  Pha 
raohs,  is  a  rich  band,  of  gold,  faced  with  cloth  of  gold  and 
lined  with  red  silk,  red  being  the  special  color  of  Lower 
Egypt  as  white  is  of  Upper.  This  crown  is  open  at  the 
top,  and  is  put  on  over  the  other ;  and  the  two  worn 
together  form  a  diadem  of  beauty  and  glory. 

About  her  neck  the  queen  wore  a  necklace  of  precious 
stones,  the  clasp  of  which  was  a  vulture,  his  neck  encir 
cled  by  an  asp,  on  which  he  was  trampling — emblem  of 
the  goddess  Maut,  mother  of  Isis.  She  was  dressed  in  a 
vestment  of  Persian  gauze  of  silk,  of  the  purest  white 
ness  and  of  the  fineness  of  mist,  and  a  green  vesture 
enriched  with  gold  and  blue  needlework,  reaching  be 
low  the  waist  and  secured  by  a  girdle  blazing  with  dia 
monds.  Long  robes  descended  to  her  feet,  of  those 
most  beautiful  patterns  and  rare  colors  which  the 
looms  of  Damascus  produce  only  for  royal  wearers,  and 
in  the  manufacture  of  which  years  are  consumed.  Care 
lessly  over  one  shoulder  was  thrown  a  Persian  shawl, 
one  like  which  is  only  made  in  a  lifetime,  and  would 
buy  a  king's  ransom.  The  monarchs  of  Egypt  thus  can 
command  with  their  wealth,  dear  mother,  what  other 
kings  can  only  sigh  for  and  envy. 

She  did  not  rise  to  receive  me,  but  when  I  would 
have  kneeled  at  her  footstool,  she  bended  forward  and 
touched  my  hand  with  her  jewelled  right  hand,  which  I 
reverently  raised  to  my  lips  and  forehead.  She  would 


80  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

not  suffer  me  to  kneel,  but  made  me  stand  on  one  side 
of  her,  while  Remeses  stood  on  her  right,  and  proceeded 
to  ask  me  a  variety  of  questions.  She  uttered  her  inter 
rogatories  with  grace  and  benignity.  She  expressed 
her  gratification  at  seeing  me  at  her  court — trusted  I 
would  find  Egypt  so  agreeable  that  I  should  remain  a 
long  time  her  guest — asked  after  your  health  and  wel 
fare,  and  desired  me  to  convey  to  you  the  expression  of 
her  esteem  for  you,  and  her  desire  that  the  friendly 
relations  now  existing  between  the  two  courts  may  be 
strengthened  by  my  visit.  She  was  also  pleased  to  say, 
that  every  opportunity  should  be  afforded  me  for  seeing 
Egypt,  and  that  if  I  desired  to  visit  Karnac  and  Luxor, 
and  the  temples  and  cities  of  the  Thebai'd,  she  would 
furnish  me  with  galleys. 

To  all  this  exceeding  kindness  and  courtesy,  my  dear 
mother,  I  returned,  as  you  may  be  sure,  appropriate 
acknowledgments  ;  and  after  some  further  conversation, 
in  which  Prince  Remeses  took  part,  the  audience  termi 
nated  :  but  only  to  introduce  a  spectacle,  such  as  I  had 
no  conception  was  in  reserve — the  review  of  her  army 
of  chariots  and  horsemen,  on  the  parade  of  the  palace. 

But  I  must  reserve  my  description  of  this  scene  to  a 
subsequent  letter.     Till  then,  I  remain, 
Royal  and  dear  mother, 

Your  faithful 

SESOSTRIS. 


ISKAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  81 


LETTEE     Y. 

CITY  OF  THE  SUN. 

EVER    BELOVED    AND    ROYAL    MOTHER  .' 

IN  my  last  letter  I  described  to  you,  as  well  as 
the  feebleness  of  language  would  admit,  my  presenta 
tion  to  the  Queen  Amense,  and  the  splendors  of  her 
court  and  palace.  In  Syria  we  have  no  approach  to  this 
Egyptian  magnificence,  unless  it  is  to  be  found  in  Tad- 
mor,  the  city  of  the  Euphrates  country,  which  travellers 
call  a  single  temple  the  size  of  a  city !  The  peculiarity 
of  Egyptian  architecture  is  very  striking.  It  has  an  air 
of  ponderous 'majesty — being,  in  all  its  proportions,  co 
lossal.  Yet  this  massive  aspect  is  relieved  by  shaping 
the  stone  and  marble  in  the  most  graceful  lines,  and  en-  j 
riching  with  sculpture,  either  in  relief  or  intaglio,  the 
immense  surfaces  of  their  gigantic  columns  and  enor 
mous  propyla.  In  all  the  temples  and  palaces  I  have 
yet  seen  here,  two  species  of  column  chiefly  prevail — 
one  of  which,  this  being  the  most  ancient  style,  is  fluted 
and  composed  of  a  single  shaft,  with  a  capital  in  the 
shape  of  an  opening  pomegranate,  the  reflexed  edge 
being  an  imitation  of  the  opened  flower  of  the  lotus, 
and  presenting  a  graceful  object  to  the  eye.  The  other 

column,  introduced  by  the  present  dynasty,  is  always 

40 


82  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

colossal ;  but  its  massiveness  is  relieved  by  "being  stri 
ated,  which  gives  the  mass  the  appearance  of  being 
composed  of  united  stems,  and  increased  by  hori 
zontal  belts  or  bands  cut  in  the  stone,  which  seem  to 
tie  them  together  under  the  capital  and  in  the  middle. 
Just  above  the  square  or  round  plinth,  the  base  of  the 
shaft  itself  is  rounded  and  adorned  with  leaves,  which 
gives  it  the  appearance  of  growing  up  from  the  plinth. 
You  can  judge  of  the  combined  grandeur  and  giace  of 
such  columns,  dear  mother,  by  imagining  several  buds 
of  the  rose  of  Palestine  set  like  cups,  one  upon  the  other, 
and  upon  the  top  of  all  a  lotus-flower,  and  the  whole 
magnified  to  ninety  or  a  hundred  feet  in  height,  and 
converted  into  Syene  stone. 

On  the  abacus  of  the  columns,  which  form  so  promi 
nent  and  universal  a  feature  in  Egyptian  architecture, 
rests  a  broad  but  simple  architrave,  usually  sculp 
tured  with  hieroglyphics  illustrating  subjects  connected 
with  the  deity  of  the  temple,  or  the  occupant  of  the 
palace  which  they  adorn.  The  upper  edge  of  it  is  often 
occupied  by  a  row  of  the  sacred  serpent,  urceus.  The 
boldness  and  breadth  of  the  cornice  supplies  the  want 
of  a  pediment — flat  roofs  being  used  in  this  country, 
when  used  at  all,  where  rain  is  scarcely  known,  and 
where  snow  was  never  seen. 

The  porticos  and  facades  present  double  and  triple 
rows  of  columns,  but  seldom  are  they  found  on  the  sides 
or  around  the  temples,  as  at  Damascus  and  Tadmor. 
The  circular  arenas  in  the  city,  which  I  have  described 
in  a  former  letter,  were  not  temples  but  colonnades,  and 
these  column-inclosed  squares  are  the  introduction  of 
Queen  Amense,  and  are  only  found  at  On.  Usually  the 


ISRAEL  IN  BONDAGE.  83 

great  lines  of  Egyptian  edifices  are  straight,  and  their 
temples  are  quadrangles,  with  avenues  of  mighty  columns 
extending  from  pylon  to  pylon  in  a  succession  of  inner 
courts — these  series  of  vast  and  magnificent  vestibules 
sometimes  extending  half  a  mile,  their  avenues  bordered 
by  sphinxes  and  columns  alternately,  until  the  great 
fane  of  the  temple,  to  which  they  are  the  approach,  is 
reached. 

For  columns,  I  have  seen  in  the  temple  of  the  sacred 
OX-MNEVIS,  colossal  figures  of  Osiris,  or  of  sovereigns 
with  the  attributes  of  Osiris.  These  Osiride  pillars  are 
often  thirty  feet  in  height.  Upon  my  mind  they  pro 
duce  an  unpleasing  effect.  The  impression  is  as  if  the 
god  was  brought  into  the  "service  of  man  as  a  slave,  to 
uphold  his  temples,  though  I  believe  they  do  not  bear 
any  portion  of  the  superincumbent  wreight.  But  one 
cannot  behold  a  row  of  these  mighty  men  of  stone  with 
out  an  emotion  of  awe.  The  general  tone  of  the  tem 
ples  and  palaces  betrays  the  pyramid  as  their  type. 
The  walls  sloping  on  the  outside  as  if  the  lower  section 
of  a  pyramid,  give  to  the  edifices  of  Egypt  that  expres 
sion  of  self-reposing  and  immovable  stability  which  be 
longs  to  the  pyramidal  form.  The  whole  effect  is  in  the 
highest  degree  sublime,  and  at  once  subdues  and  ele 
vates  my  mind  as  I  gaze.  The  scale  of  architecture  is. 
so  vast,  that  even  the  innumerable  sculptured  objects 
by  'which  walls,  columns,  and  entablatures  are  cov 
ered,  do  not  interfere  with  the  grandeur  of  the  whole 
effect.  Moreover,  the  heaviness  which  would  adhere  to 
such  massive  edifices  in  Syria,  disappears  when  they  are 
seen  through  the  crystalline  medium  of  this  Egyptian 
atmosphere. 


84  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

There  is  another  peculiarity,  my  dear  mother,  of  Egyp 
tian  architecture,  which  no  one  can  contemplate  without 
an  increasing  impression  of  awe.  I  allude  to  the  dro- 
mos,  or  double  row  of  sphinxes — figures  of  which  I  have 
already  spoken,  and  of  which  we  have  no  idea  in  Syria, 
though  an  Assyrian  noble  whom  I  met  in  Sidon,  de 
scribed  to  me  reposing  colossi  with  majestic  heads  of 
kings  and  bodies  of  lions,  as  guarding  the  approach  to 
the  temples  of  the  gods  of  his  country.  Such  mysterious 
compounds  of  the  human  form  with  a  lion  or  a  ram, 
denoting  the  union  of  intellect  with  strength,  are  to  be 
encountered  here  before  every  temple.  These  avenues 
of  sphinxes,  in  profound  repose  and  with  a  grave  and 
serious  aspect,  are  usually  entered  through  a  lofty  gate 
way  or  pylon,  before  which  are  seated  gigantic  figures 
of  gods,  or  stand  obelisks  of  granite,  placed  in  pairs,  and 
richly  and  elaborately  sculptured  with  hieroglyphics. 
Through  such  a  gateway  and  avenue,  I  approached  the 
city  of  On.  A  day  or  two  ago  I  was  in  a  temple  dedi 
cated  to  the  god  Horus,  son  of  Osiris  and  Isis.  Upon  the 
pylon  was  inscribed  a  sun,  supported  by  two  asps  with 
outspread  wings — the  emblem  of  Hor-hat,  the  good 
genius  of  Egypt — and  hence  to  be  found  everywhere 
represented.  It  is  this  which  is  erroneously  called,  by 
some  travellers,  a  winged  globe.  In  the  entrance,  this 
god  was  pictured  with  the  head  of  a  hawk  (at  once  his 
symbol  and  a  type  of  the  sun,  from  the  piercing  bright 
ness  of  its  eye),  as  an  actor  in  various  scenes,  both  celes 
tial  and  terrestrial,  such  as  hunting,  sailing,  and  engaged 
in  war  against  Typhoii,  and  others. 

Passing  these,  I  entered  a  spacious  court,  open  to  the 
sky  and  surrounded  by  sculptured  colonnades.  Cross- 


ISRAEL  IN  BONDAGE.  85 

ing  this  court,  which  inferior  priests  were  traversing  or 
idly  lonnging  in,  I  came  to  a  second  propylon,  the  mag 
nificent  wings  of  which  were  divided  into  numerous 
compartments,  and  sculptured  ten  stories  high,  with  the 
most  exquisite  art.  This  pylon,  in  the  wings  of  which 
the  priests  lodge,  led  into  an  open  court  one  hundred 
paces  long,  through  the  centre  of  which  extended  an 
avenue  of  twenty-four  columns,  sixty-six  feet  high  and 
twelve  in  diameter,  and  on  each  side  of  these  were  seven 
rows  of  lesser  columns,  forty  feet  in  height  and  nine  in 
diameter.  All  these  presented  sculptured  surfaces,  and 
the  richest  description  of  capitals.  A  still  more  mag 
nificent  gateway,  at  the  extremity  of  this  street  of  col 
umns,  conducted  me  into  a  vast  hall  with  covered  clois 
ters  on  the  sides,  and  a  double  row  of  colossal  pillars 
running  down  the  centre.  All  the  rest  of  the  space  was 
paved  and  adorned  with  fountains,  statues,  and  fruit  and 
flower  trees,  growing  from  large  alabaster  vases.  Priests 
and  worshippers  moved  in  all  directions  through  this  and 
the  other  courts.  The  walls  of  this  grand  hall  were 
decorated  with  battle-pieces — the  triumphs  of  the  Pha 
raohs  in  the  conquest  of  neighboring  kingdoms — repre 
sentations  of  offerings  to  the  gods,  and  of  captive 
princes  led  at  the  wheels  of  chariots.  I  advanced  to  an 
other  pylon,  still  loftier  and  more  noble  than  the  rest, 
and  as  I  looked  back  to  the  remote  outer  entrance,  two 
thousand  feet  off,  I  discovered  that  an  artifice  of  archi 
tecture  had  been  employed  to  increase  the  apparent  dis 
tance  by  diminishing  the  gateways  in  height,  as  if  by 
the  effect  of  a  lengthened  perspective.  The  effect  was 
all  that  the  architect  could  have  desired. 

The  Egyptians   apply   colors   freely  to   their   archi- 


86  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

lecture.  This  peculiarity  increases  in  a  wonderfal 
degree  the  richness  and  harmony  of  the  general  effect. 
The  cloudless  sky  of  Egypt  gives  brilliancy  to  all  the 
colors  of  nature,  and  these  imitated  on  the  walls  of 
temples  and  palaces,  have  a  beauty  and  splendor  that 
must  be  seen  to  be  appreciated.  Granite,  serpentine 
stone,  breccia,  or  basalt,  whatever  be  the  material,  its 
appearance,  however  elaborately  polished,  is  by  the 
Egyptians  enriched,  as  they  believe,  and  as  I  begin  to 
think,  by  the  pencil.  The  profusion  with  which  they 
employ  colors  and  sculpture  in  their  temples,  palaces, 
and  tombs,  has  no  parallel  on  earth.  In  Syria  they  are 
subsidiary  to  architecture.  Here  they  are  a  part  of  it. 
The  eloping  outer  walls,  the  external  surfaces, — ceiling, 
column,  and  pylon, — are  all  covered  with  sculpture. 
Their  sculptured  bass-reliefs  unite  the  qualities  of  a 
cameo  and  an  intaglio,  the  figure  itself  rising  from  the 
broadly  cut  and  deep  outline  of  the  design.  Thus, 
though  the  design  is  in  relief,  the  figure  does  not  project, 
and  is  protected  from  injury.  The  colors  which  are 
laid  on  these  are  softened  by  their  retiring  below  the 
surface.  Real  bass-reliefs,  however,  exist  on  the  monu 
ments  of  the  age  of  Sesortase-n  I. 

The  adytum  of  the  temple  which  I  am  describing  so 
minutely,  with  descriptions  of  the  peculiarities  of  the 
architecture  of  the  Egyptians  (knowing  your  archi 
tectural  taste  and  curiosity  about  all  such  subjects,  my 
dear  mother),  was,  unlike  any  of  the  halls  I  had  trav 
ersed,  much  smaller,  and  yet  far  more  beautiful  than 
any  of  them.  It  was  a  square  chamber,  the  ceiling  of 
which  was  painted  blue  and  studded  with  stars,  while 
the  moon  shone  down,  a  shield  of  polished  silver,  from 


ISRAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  87 

the  zenith  point.  Figures  of  vultures,  hawks,  and  other 
emblems,  were  placed  upon  columns  around  the  hall, 
and  separated  only  by  the  winged  asp-encircled  sun. 
These  figures  were  richly  colored,  and  the  eyes  of  the 
birds .  glittered  with  diamonds  set  in  them.  Upon  the 
entablature  around  the  liall  were  sculptured  the  twelve 
months.  All  these,  and  the  walls,  were  beautifully 
painted,  with  a  harmony  of  distribution  and  combina 
tion  of  their  gorgeous  colors  singularly  pleasing  to  the 
eye.  Hieroglyphics,  traced  in  gold  on  blue  panels, 
recorded  the  virtues  and  deeds  of  Horns.  The  floor  of 
this  sumptuous  chamber  represented  the  great  circle  of 
the  sun  through  the  twelve  constellations,  and  also  the 
images  of  the  seven  planetary  gods,  executed  in  the 
pavement  with  almost  every  variety  of  colored  stone, 
such  as  the  emerald,  amethyst,  agate,  lapis  lazuli,  root 
of  emerald,  cornelian,  greenstone,  haematite,  all  interset 
with  gold,  silver,  and  bronze.  Nothing  could  be  richer. 
A  sun  of  pure  gold  was  placed  in  the  centre  of  this 
wonderful  zodiac,  if  I  may  so  term  it,  for  I  do  not  know 
whether  it  is  a  true  planetary  configuration  which 
is  represented  with  a  fixed  date,  or  simply  arbitrary,  and 
executed  as  an  ornament.  The  Egyptians  are,  however, 
skilful  astronomers,  and  have  the  skill  and  learning  to 
interpret  and  thus  record  the  ages  of  the  past  by  the 
procession  of  the  heavens. 

On  one  side  of  this  chamber  of  art  and  beauty,  stood 
the  monolith  which  contained  the  shrine  of  the  god.  It 
was  a  rock  of  solid  granite,  in  which  a  recess  was 
hollowed  out,  wherein  sat  the  deity.  Nothing  could  be 
more  majestic  and  simple.  The  Egyptians  seem  to 
delight  in  contrasts.  All  the  magnificence  and  archi- 


88  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

tectural  glory  I  have  described,  directed  the  footsteps  of 
the  votary  to  a  plain  block  of  stone,  containing  a  statue 
of  Syenite  marble  the  size  of  a  man.  The  face  is  calm 
and  majestic,  and  the  eyes  are  fixed  upon  the  worship 
per  with  a  supernatural  expression  which  awes  him.  The 
genius  which  had  erected  the  superb  edifice  of  the  god, 
had  concentrated  its  power  in  the  face  of  the  divinity. 
Though  stone,  it  seemed  above  humanity  ;  and  the  soul 
of  the  god  seemed  dwelling  in  it,  and  giving  its  coun 
tenance  a  divine  energy. 

But,  my  dear  mother,  I  will  not  longer  occupy  your 
time  with  temples  and  architecture.  I  have  written  of 
them  sufficiently  to  give  you  an  idea  of  the  land  I 
sojourn  in.  But  my  descriptions  will  enable  you  to 
form  a  more  correct  idea  of  such  events  as  I  may  here 
after  write  about,  and  enable  you,  when  I  relate  scenes 
and  actions,  to  conceive,  in  a  measure,  the  surrounding 
features  and  aspect  of  places.  If  I  were  writing  a  vol 
ume  "  on  Egypt,"  I  would  then  visit  and  describe  all 
her  magnificent  temples,  pyramids,  obelisks,  palaces, 
canals,  lakes,  cities,  and  tombs,  from  Pelusium  to  the 
tower  of  Syene.  But  I  know  that  these  would  not 

«/ 

interest  you,  after  what  I  have  written,  and  that  what  is 
personal  to  myself  and  descriptive  of  the  people,  that  is, 
life  and  action,  will  be  more  agreeable  for  you  to  read 
(and  for  me  to  write)  than  gorgeous  pictures  of  archi 
tectural  results.  I  shall,  therefore,  for  the  future,  only 
incidentally  describe  edifices  (unless,  indeed,  I  give  you 
a  letter  upon  the  mighty  pyramids),  and  devote  my  pen 
to  scenes  passing  around  me. 

And  in  pursuance  of  this  purpose,  my  dear  mother,  I 
will  describe  to  you  the  review  of  the  army  of  chariots 


ISKAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  89 

of  iron,  which  followed  my  presentation  to  the  queen. 
I  will  not  be  so  vain  as  to  suffer  you  to  think  that  this 
superb  spectacle  was  arranged  purposely  in  honor  of 
your  son  ;  though  had  it  been  so,  it  could  hardly  have 
added  to  the  honors  which  that  august  and  courteous 
lady  has  showered  upon  me  ;  but  I  feel  that  the  distinc 
tion  is  due  rather  to  the  friendship  which  Hemeses 
entertains  for  me,  than  to  any  merit  or  claim  of  my  own 
beyond  my  simple  rank. 

The  review  in  question  was  prepared  for  this  day; 
and,  in  order  that  1  might  witness  it,  the  queen  had 
graciously  appointed  the  occasion  for  my  presentation 
to  her.  Although,  in  my  account  of  that  interview,  I 
spoke  only  of  myself,  yet  there  had  been  presented,  just 
before  I  entered  the  palace,  several  ambassadors,  princes, 
and  philosophers,  from  various  countries,  including 
Arabia,  Persia,  Sheba,  Javan,  Iberia,  Abyssinia,  and 
the  isles  of  the  sea.  These  had  come  to  Egypt,  either 
to  enter  the  schools  of  philosophy,  to  negotiate  terms 
of  tribute  or  alliance,  or  to  study  the  science  of  war,x, 
for  which  Egypt  has  become  eminent,  even  rivalling 
the  mighty  Philistine  armies  in  discipline,  effect,  and 
valor. 

From  the  throne-room  we  passed  out  through  a  gate 
way,  from  which  descended  steps  to  the  parade,  which 
was  a  vast  square,  capable  of  holding  one  hundred 
thousand  men ;  while  the  colonnades  around  it  would 
accommodate  as  many  more  spectators. 

The  queen  did  not  descend  the  steps,  but  took  her 
seat  by  a  statue,  of  the  god  of  war,  upon  a  sort  of  throne 
beneath  a  canopy,  supported  by  six  bearers,  to  shield 
her  from  the  sun.  But  Kemeses,  leaving  me  by  the 


side  of  his  royal  mother,  who  was  also  surrounded  by 
her  guard,  and  near  whom  stood  the  ambassadors  and 
princes  and  philosophers,  received  from  an  attendant  a 
helmet  of  gold,  which  he  put  over  his  silken  bonnet, 
and  from  another  a  corselet  of  steel  inlaid,  mounted  a 
war-chariot  in  waiting,  and,  casting  a  glance  around  upon 
the  field,  looked  all  at  once  the  warrior-prince,  which 
the  heightened  color  of  his  cheek  and  proud  carriage  of 
his  head  showed  he  felt  himself  to  be.  Thus,  whether  a 
soldier  at  the  head  of  the  hosts  of  Egypt,  a  counsellor 
by  the  throne  of  his  mother,  a  courtier  among  the 
nobles,  a  philosopher  in  the  Academies,  he  is  perfect  in 
all  things.  As  a  son,  he  sets  an  example  of  devotion 
and  filial  respect  to  the  young  men. .of  the  kingdom ;  as 
a  man,  his  private  character  is  pure  from  every  vice  or 
folly — a  worthy  heir  to  the  throne  of  the  dominant 
kingdom  of  the  earth.  The  sight  which  the  square 
presented  surpasses  my  ability  to  convey  to  your  mind 
a  just  conception  of.  The  vast  area  was  one  third  occu 
pied  by  a  division  of  chariots.  The  chariot  corps  con 
stitutes  a  very  large  and  effective  portion  of  the  Egyptian 
army.  Each  car  contained  two  soldiers — for,  from  the 
position  1  occupied,  my  eyes  could  take  in  the  whole 
splendid  scene — besides  the  charioteer.  The  car  on 
which  Hemeses  stood  was  drawn  by  two  horses,  but 
without  any  charioteer,  the  reins  being  fastened  to  an 
upright  spear.  His  chariot  was  inlaid  with  silver  and 
gold.  The  sides  and  back  were  open,  and  the  base  or 
floor  of  the  car  curved  upward  in  front,  serving  as  a 
safeguard  to  the  charioteer  when  one  was  required ;  but 
it  now  supported  his  quiver  of  silver  and  bow-case  of 
gilded  leather,  richly  ornamented  with  figures  of  lions. 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  91 

Thte  spear-case,  which  was  of  bronze,  and  fastened  by 
chains  of  gold,  pointed  over  his  shoulder.  Close  to  it 
was  an  additional  quiver  containing  Parthian  arrows, 
while  a  mace  of  iron  and  a  heavy  sword,  that  reflected 
the  sunlight,  hung  by  thongs  from  the  rings  of  the  speTar- 
case.  All  the  other  chariots,  which  were  constructed  of 
Avood  and  iron  handsomely  painted,  were  similarly 
accoutred,  though  less  elegant  in  form  and  finish,  and. 
provided  only  with  a  single  quiver,  bow,  and  spear. 
The  housings  upon  the  horses  were  cuirasses  of  woven 
links  of  the  finest  steel,  while  gorgeous  feathers  decked 
their  heads. 

~No  sooner  had  the  prince  leaped  upon  his  chariot, 
than  the  Ethiopian  slaves,  who  held  his  two  fiery  steeds, 
sprung  aside,  releasing  them  in  the  act,  when  they 
bounded  into  the  air  and  dashed  forward  over  the  plain. 
Remeses,  immovable  as  a  statue,  let  them  fly  before 
him  until  he  came  in  front  of  the  drawn-up  phalanx  of 
chariots,  when,  at  a  slight  signal  with  his  hands,  the 
horses,  whose  eyes  are  wholly  free  from  shields  or 
blinders,  stopped  full.  These  proved  to  be  his  favorite 
chariot-horses,  and  had  been  trained  to  render  perfect 
obedience. 

Now  commenced  a  grand  movement  of  the  whole 
battalion.  While  Remeses  stood  in  his  chariot,  the  van 
of  the  four  thousand  chariots,  which  constituted  the 
host,  moved  forward.  In  a  few  moments  the  whole 
body  was  in  motion.  Dashing  forward  across  the  field, 
they  swept  round  at  its  extremity  in  vast  curves,  .and 
came  thundering  on,  to  pass  the  point  where  the  queen 
sat.  The  ground  shook  with  the  roll  of  eight  thousand 
wheels  and  the  fall  of  twice  as  many  horse  hoofs !  It  was 


92  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

a  magnificent  sight,  as,  one  hundred  abreast,  the  column 
came  on.  The  head  qf  it,  led  by  the  chief  captains, 
passed  our  position  like  a  mighty  river,  the  surface  of 
which  tossed  with  helmets,  glittering  spears,  bows, 
plumed  heads  of  steeds,  and  gorgeous  housings — a  daz 
zling,  bewildering  spectacle,  full  of  sublimity  and  terri 
ble  power.  The  splendor  of  the  head-dresses  and 
trappings  of  the  steeds,  mingling  with  the  shining  cui 
rasses  and  steel  weapons  of  the  armed  charioteers, 
presented  a  scene  I  shall  never  cease  to  remember. 

In  the  centre  of  the  field  of  review  stood  Remeses, 
his  eagle  glance  reviewing  their  movements,  with  a 
few  of  his  generals  about  him,  each  in  his  own  chariot. 
"When  this  grand  and  imposing  army  had  compassed 
the  square,  they  resumed  their  former  position  with  a 
precision  and  order  marvellous  to  witness.  Then  fol 
lowed  evolutions  by  detachments  of  chariots.  Five 
hundred  of  them,  divided  into  two  equal  bodies,  took 
position,  one  at  each  end  of  the  parade,  and,  at  a  signal, 
charged  upon  each  other  at  a  speed  which,  at  first  slow, 
increased  each  moment.  My  heart  leaped  with  excite 
ment.  I  looked  to  see  a  very  battle,  and  to  behold 
horses  and  charioteers  overturned  in  tumultuous  confu 
sion  from  the  inevitable  shock.  But  so  well-drilled  were 
they,  that  the  two  lines,  deploying  as  they  drew  nearer, 
passed  through  each  other  in  spaces  measured  by  the 
eyes  of  the  charioteers  so  nicely,  that  in  a  moment  they 
were  rattling  away,  each  to  occupy  the  other's  vacated 
position.  There  was  a  general  shout  of  applause  from 
the  tens  of  thousands  of  spectators  at  this  brilliant 
manoeuvre.  Other  displays  of  battle-charioteering  took 
place,  during  which  was  exhibited  every  evolution 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  93 

tli at  war  demands  on  the  veritable  field  of  con 
flict. 

Tins  magnificent  review  occupied  three  hours,  when 
it  terminated  by  all  the  generals,  and  chief  captains,  and 
leaders  of  cohorts  and  legions,  simultaneously  detaching 
themselves  from  their  several  commands,  and  one  after 
another  galloping  at  full  speed,  first  around  the  prince, 
saluting  him,  and  then  wheeling  and  turning  in  front  of 
the  queen's  pavilion,  paying  her  military  homage  as 
they  passed  her,  by  placing  the  left  hand  upon  the 
breast,  lowering  the  point  of  the  spear,  and  then  raising  it 
above  their  glittering  heltnets.  The  queen  rose,  smiled, 
and  returned  the  salute  by  a  graceful  wave  of  her  hand. 
This  company  of  warrior  chiefs  excelled,  in  richness  of 
armor  and  apparel,  and  housings  and  head-dresses  for 
their  steeds,  and  in  the  beauty  of  their  war-chariots,  all 
that  had  gone  before.  Returning  to  their  post,  the 
trumpets  of  the  whole  army  sounded,  and  this  martial 
array  of  chariots  and  horsemen  moved  all  together 
across  the  parade,  at  a  rapid  trot,  and,  defiling  by  fifties 
through  a  colossal  pylon,  soon  disappeared  outside  ot 
the  walls  on  their  way  to  their  camp.  Their  retiring 
trumpets  could  be  still  heard  dying  away  beyond  the 
gates,  as  Remeses  rejoined  us,  alighting  from  his  chariot 
after  loosing  the  reins  of  his  steeds  from  about  his  body, 
to  which  he  had  bound  them  during  one  part  of  the 
evolutions,  in  which  he  took  the  lead  of  a  charging 
legion  in  his  own  chariot,  as  ever  without  a  charioteer. 

We  now  retired  into  the  palace,  it  being  past  nooi, 
and  were  conducted  towards  the  reception-rooms  of  the 
royal  banquet-hall  by  the  grand-chamberlain.  At  the 
inor  we  were  received  by  the  chief  butler,  while  the 


94:  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,   OR 

other  officers  of  the  royal  household  stood  in  a  line, 
bending  low  as  the  queen  and  her  guests  passed  in.  "We 
consisted,  besides  her  majesty,  the  prince  and  myself,  of 
the  ambassador  from  Chaldea,  the  king's  messenger 
from  the  Court  of  Chederlaomer  III.,  in  whose  country, 
three  hundred  years  and  more  ago,  the  famous  battle  of 
Sodom  was  fought ;  the  ambassador  from  the  kingdom 
of  Assyria ;  the  young  Prince  of  Tarshish ;  the  Duke 
Chilmed  of  Sheba,  and  the  Dukes  Javan  and  Tubal; 
the  Lord  of  Mesech,  and  the  Prince  of  Midian.  Besides 
these  was  a  great  and  wise  prince  from  the  land  of  Uz, 
near  the  country  of  Prince  Abram,  the  Mesopotaruian. 
He  was  accompanied  by  two  friends,  philosophers  Mid 
men  of  note,  Zophar  of  Kaamath,  and  Lord  Eliphuz,  of 
Teman.  This  lord  of  Uz  came  into  Egypt  with  a  great 
retinue  and  train  of  servants,  for  he  is  a  man  of  vast 
possessions.  He  had  heard  of  the  wisdom  and  power  of 
Amense,  and  had  come  with  his  own  merchants  to  visit 
her  court.  He  is  also  an  eminently  wise  man,  a  worship 
per  of  the  one  Deity,  as  was  the  ancient  king  Abram. 
He  is  of  venerable  and  majestic  aspect,  is  learned 
in  all  the  wisdom  of  Chaldea  and  Arabia,  and  seeks  to 
add  thereto  the  lore  of  Egypt.  Besides  this  distin 
guished  prince,  there  are  other  philosophers  of  note  and 
name.  In  such  noble  company,  dear  mother,  was  it  my 
fortunate  lot  to  fall.  Truly,  to  come  into  Egypt  is  to 
see  the  whole  world  ! 

The  queen,  after  entering  the  ante-room,  retired  to  the 
right,  wrhere  her  ladies-in-waiting  received  her  and  es 
corted  her  to  her  own  apartments  to  prepare  for  the 
banquet,  which  had  been  delayed  by  the  review.  Ite- 
meses  leading  the  way,  with  me  by  his  side,  we  came  to 


ISRAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  95 

the  outer  room,  where  handsomely  dressed  pages  offered 
us  scented  water  in  ewers  of  gold,  to  lave  our  fingers, 
removed  our  sandals,  and  in  foot-pans  of  gold  washed 
our  feet,  beginning  with  Remeses.  They  then  dried 
them  with  perfumed  napkins  of  the  softest  linen  fringed 
with  threads  of  gold,  and  placed  upon  them  sandals  of 
crimson  cloth,  embroidered  with  flowers.  Our  upper 
garments  were  removed  by  Nubian  servants,  and  re 
placed  by  a  banquet-vesture,  more  or  less  rich  according 
to  our  rank.  Thus  refreshed,  we  entered  a  beautiful 
reception-room  containing  the  most  elegant  articles  of 
furniture.  Here  every  one  of  us  was  presented  by  the 
chief  gardener  of  the  palace  with  a  lotus-flower,  to  be 
held  in  the  hand  during  the  entertainment.  As  we 
moved  about,  admiring  the  beauty  of  the  rooms  and  the 
furniture,  and  such  objects  of  luxury  and  art  as  were 
intended  to  gratify  the  tastes  of  guests,  there  were  sev 
eral  arrivals  of  generals,  and  ofiicers  of  the  chariot  legion, 
and  other  divisions  of  the  army  of  Lower  Egypt,  wrho 
had  been  summoned  to  the  banquet.  Among  these  I 
recognized  some  of  the  superbly  uniformed  officers  who 
had  lined  the  avenue  of  the  grand  approach  to  the 
throne — for  you  wrill  recollect  that  I  said  it  was  an  army 
of  ofiicers,  soldiers  of  this  rank  alone  being  permitted  to 
do  the  honors  of  the  palace  on  the  reception  of  princes 
.or  foreign  ambassadors. 

There  were,  also,  nobles,  and  distinguished  citizens, 
Egyptian  gentlemen  of  worth  and  condition,  that  en 
titled  them  to  the  honor  of  dining  at  the  palace.  From  a 
window  I  witnessed  the  arrival  of  these.  They  came  in 
elegant  pleasure-chariots,  attended  by  a  number  of 
servants.  One  of  these  footmen  came  forward  to  an- 


96  THE    PILLAR    OF    FIEE,    OR 

nounce  to  the  chief  porter  his  master's  name  ;  others  took 
the  reins,  for  the  Egyptian  lord  prefers  to  drive  himself 
in  the  streets ;  another,  who  held  above  his  head,  stand 
ing  behind  him,  a  large  parasol  of  gorgeous  plumes, 
alighted,  carried  it  still  above  him  as  he  crossed  to  the 
portico  of  the  palace. 

Several  aged  persons  arrived  in  palanquins  exquisitely 
carved  and  painted,  and  borne  by  slaves.  Two  or  three 
arrived  on  foot,  an  attendant  holding  a  shield  or  large 
fan  above  them.  Water  was  brought  also  for  their  feet, 
but  not  in  golden  foot-bowls,  and  robes  and  sandals  were 
distributed  according  to  rank. 

At  length,  for  these  polite  Egyptians  (as  well  as  our 
selves)  regard  it  as  a  want  of  good-breeding  to  sit  down 
to  table  immediately  on  arriving,  the  music,  which  had 
played  all  the  while  the  guests  were  arriving,  ceased, 
and  the  chief  butler  announced  the  moment  of  the  ban 
quet.  At  the  same  instant  the  queen,  entered  the  apart 
ment,  and,  after  receiving  the  salutations  of  us  all,  was 
escorted  by  Remeses  to  the  banquet-hall.  As  we  enter 
ed,  a  company  of  musicians,  stationed  near  the  door, 
struck  up  one  of  the  favorite  airs  of  the  country,  playing 
upon  tambourines,  cymbals,  double-pipes,  flutes  which 
rested  on  the  floor,  guitars,  lyres,  and  instruments  un 
known  to  me.  The  music  was  full  of  harmony,  and,  to 
my  ear,  novel,  from  the  number  of  strange  instruments. 
This  continued  until  we  had  been  seated  according  to 
rank,  my  place  being  to  the  left  of  the  queen,  Remeses 
sitting  at  her  right.  There  were  four  ladies  of  rank  also 
near  the  queen,  along  the  table,  which  I  may  mention 
was  of  polished  silver. 

When  we  had  taken  our  places  the  loud  rnusic  ceased, 


ISRAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  97 

and  seven  minstrels,  who  stood  by  as  many  harps  be 
hind  the  queen,  commenced  playing  a  beautiful  air,  ac 
companying  it  by  their  voices.  The  melody  was  full  of 
richness  and  sweetness.  While  this  was  performing, 
servants  approached,  and  from  exquisite  porcelain  vases 
poured  sweet-scented  ointment  upon  our  heads.  Then 
entered  from  the  gardens,  into  which  the  banquet- room 
opened  on  two  sides,  as  many  beautiful  maidens,  bear 
ing  necklaces  of  fresh  flowers  which  they  had  just  gath 
ered,  and  cast  them  over  our  shoulders. 

Having  received  these  tokens  of  welcome,  a  train  of 
servants  presented  us  wine  in  one-handled  goblets.  That 
of  Remeses,  and  mine  own,  was  of  gold  and  jewelled. 
The  others  were  of  silver  or  agate.  The  queen's  was 
presented  to  her  in  a  single  crystal,  and  that  of  the  ladies 
in  small,  delicate  vases  of  some  precious  metal.  The 
health  of  the  queen,  and  of  the  prince,  and  others  pres 
ent,  was  drunk,  while  music  regaled  our  senses.  Remeses, 
who  acted  as  ruler  of  the  feast,  pledged  me  to  drink  thy 
health,  my  dear  mother,  which  was  responded  to  by  all 
the  company  ;  the  Prince  of  Uz  remarking,  that  the  fame 
of  your  virtues  and  the  wisdom  of  your  reign  had 
reached  his  country.  You  may  judge  how  my  heart 
swelled  with  pride  and  joy  at  this  testimony  to  your  ex 
cellencies,  O  my  noble  and  royal  mother,  from  so  digni 
fied  a  source,  in  the  presence  of  such  a  company  of  wit 
nesses  !  Until  the  dinner  was  served  up,  various  songs 
and  performances  were  introduced,  and  at  the  close  of 
the  banquet  there  were  the  wonderful  dances  of  Ara 
bian  girls,  exhibitions  of  buffoonery,  games,  and  feats  of 
agility  by  jugglers.  I  regret  to  say,  that  some  of  the 
guests  retired  overcome  with  wine,  and  had  to  be  borne 

6 


98  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

on  the  shoulders  of  their  servants  to  their  homes  ;  while 
two  of  the  ladies  were  freer  with  their  little  crystal  gob 
lets  than  was  seeming  for  their  sex.  The  queen  scarce 
touched  the  wine  to  her  lips,  while  Hemeses  preserved 
the  severest  temperance.  After  the  banquet,  Remeses 
accompanied  me  to  apartments  in  the  palace,  which  he 
said  were  for  the  future  to  be  my  abode.  Here,  taking 
leave  of  him,  I  commenced  this  letter,  wThich  I  now 
,  assuring  you  of  my  filial  love  and  reverence. 

SESOSTEIS. 


ISRAEL  IN  BONDAGE. 


LETTER    VI. 


PALACE  OF  THE  PHAEAOHS,  CITY  OF  ON. 

MY   DEAR   AND   HONORED    MOTHER  I 

THIS  morning,  as  I  was  about  leaving  the  palace, 
in  order  to  spend  several  hours  in  traversing  the  city 
on  foot,  that  I  might  see  the  citizens  at  their  pursuits, 
and  observe  the  manners  and  customs  of  this  people, 
the  Prince  Remeses  rode  up  in  his  silver-embossed 
chariot,  himself  his  own  charioteer,  two  footmen,  carry 
ing  their  sandals  in  their  left  hand,  running  by  the  side 
of  his  superb  horses.  "With  that  absence  of  form  and 
ceremony  which  belongs  to  true  friendship,  he  did  not 
wait  for  me  to  order  my  grand-chamberlain  and  other 
chief  officers  of  my  retinue  to  receive  him,  but  came 
straight  to  the  room  "  of  the  alabastron,"  so  called  from 
its  alabaster  columns,  which  was  my  reception-room, 
and  in  the  window  of  which  he  had  seen  me  from  the 
street.  I  met  him  at  the  door  of  the  ante-room,  and 
when  I  would  have  saluted  him  by  laying  his  hand 
against  my  heart  and  then  raising  it  to  my  lips,  he  em 
braced  me  with  affection. 

"  Nay,  noble  Sesostris,  said  I  not  we  are  friends  and 
cousins,  and  therefore  equals  ?     I  have  come  for  you  to 


100  THE   PILLAR   OF    FIRE,   OR 

go  with  me  to  Kaamses,  the  treasure-city,  built  by 
Amiiiiopliis,  my  grandfather.  I  am  planning  a  new 
palace,  to  be  erected  there  for  the  governor  of  the  treas 
ures  of  the  kingdom,  and  am  to  meet,  to-day,  the  chief 
architect.  Will  you  accompany  me  ?" 

"  With  pleasure,  my  prince,"  J  said ;  "  though  I  had 
just  proposed  to  walk  about  the  city  among  the  people, 
and  see  them  in  their  homes  and  domestic  pursuits.'' 

"  You  will  find  time  for  this  always — come  with  me. 
You  can  stand  with  me  in  my  chariot,  or  I  will  give  you 
one  to  yourself,  with  a  charioteer." 

I  replied  that  I  would  go  with  him,  as  I  should  wish 
to  ask  him  many  questions  on  the  way.  In  a  few  mo 
ments  we  were  moving  rapidly  through  the  superb 
streets  of  the  city,  and,  passing  through  three  grand 
pylones  uniting  as  many  courts,  we  came  to  the  great 
gate  of  the  city  to  the  south.  The  towers  on  each  side 
of  it  were  ninety-nine  feet  high,  and  the  pylon  between 
them  a  wonder  of  beauty,  for  the  elegance  of  its  intaglio 
adornments. 

At  this  gate  stood  a  phalanx  of  dark  Libyan  soldiers, 
who  form,  everywhere,  the  guards  of  the  gates,  being 
noted  both  for  faithfulness  and  for  their  gigantic  size. 
They  were  armed  with  lances  and  swords,  and  as  wo 
passed  through  the  gate  paid  to  us  the  military  salu 
tation  due  to  royalty ;  for  though  Reraeses  is  not  the 
ruler  of  Egypt,  yet  he  wields  an  influence  and  power, 
both  from  his  personal  popularity  and  the  confidence 
reposed  in  him  by  his  queen  mother,  which  is  almost 
equal  to  the  supreme  dignity.  And  when  he  comes  to 
the  throre  he  will  rule  wisely,  and,  if  possible,  raise 
Egypt  to  still  greater  glory.  I  have  already  spoken  of 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.' "  101 

the  remarkable  air  of  dignity  about  him,  combined  with 
an  infinite  gracefulness.  He  has  an  excellent  under 
standing,  and  the  distinguished  Egyptians  with  whom 
I  have  conversed,  tell  me  that  "  no  man  ever  more 
perfectly  united  in  his  own  person  the  virtues  of  a 
philosopher  with  the  talents  of  a  general."  Gentle  in 
his  manner,  he  is  in  temper  rather  reserved ;  in  his 
morals  irreproachable,  and  never  known  (a  rare  virtue 
in  princes  of  Egypt)  to  exceed  the  bounds  of  the  most 
rigid  temperance.  Candor,  sincerity,  affability,  and 
simplicity,  seem  to  be  the  striking  features  of  his  char 
acter;  and  when  occasion  offers,  he  displays,  say  the 
officers  of  his  army,  the  most  determined  bravery  and 
masterly  soldiership. 

Having  passed  the  gate,  the  prince  drew  rein  a  little, 
to  relieve  the  footmen,  six  of  whom  ran  before  and  as 
many  behind  the  chariot,  besides  the  two  "  pages  of  the 
horse,"  who  kept  close  to  the  heads  of  the  horses.  Once 
outside  of  the  city,  we  were  in  a  beautiful  avenue,  which 
led  through  groves  and  gardens,  past  villas  and  orna 
mental  lakes,  for  half  a  mile, — the  city,  for  this  breadth, 
being  inclosed  by  such  a  belt  of  verdure  and  rural  luxury. 

"Here,"  said  Eemeses,  "dwell  the  nobles,  in  the 
intense  heats  of  summer.  The  summer  palace  of  my 
mother  is  on  the  island  of  Rhoda,  between  On  and 
Memphis,  in  the  Nile.  I  am  yet  to  conduct  you  thither, 
and  also  to  the  pyramids.  You  see  pavilions  on  small 
islets  in  these  circular  lakes.  They  are  temples,  or 
rather  shrines  for  the  private  devotions  of  the  families." 

We  left  this  lovely  suburb,  and  entered  upon  a  broad 
road,  which,  after  crossing  a  plain  on  which  stood  the 
ruins  of  a  palace  of  Osirtasen  L,  wound  through*,  a 


tHE  "PILLAR    OF   FIRE,    OR 

region  of  wheat-fields,  which  extended  along  the  ITilo 
as  far  as  the  eye  could  see.  The  laborers  were  chiefly 
Egyptian,  and  wore  the  loin-cloth,  and  short  trowsers 
reaching  half-way  to  the  knee,  which  I  have  "before 
described.  They  sang  cheerful  songs  as  they  worked, 
and  stopped  to  gaze  after  the  rolling  chariot  which  wTas 
passing  across  their  lands  like  a  meteor,  its  silver  panels 
flashing  in  the  snn. 

Abont  twenty  stadia,  or  nearly  four  miles,  from  the 
city,  we  came  suddenly  upon  a  vast  desolate  field,  upon 
which  thousands  of  men  seemed  to  be  engaged  in  the 
occupation  of  making  brick.  As  we  drew  near,  for  the 
royal  road  we  were  traversing  passed  directly  through 
this  busy  multitude,  I  saw  by  their  faces  that  the  toilers 
were  of  that  mysterious  race,  the  Hebrew  people. 

I  say  "  mysterious,"  dear  mother  ;  for  though  I  have 
now  been  six  weeks  in  Egypt,  I  have  not  yet  found  any 
of  the  Egyptians  who  can  tell  me  whence  came  this 
nation,  now  in  bondage  to  the  Pharaohs !  Either  those 
whom  I  questioned  were  ignorant  of  their  rise,  or  pur 
posely  refrained  from  talking  with  a  foreigner  upon  the 
subject. 

You  will  remember  that  I  once  inquired  of  llemeses 
as  to  their  origin  and  present  degradation,  and  he  said 
he  would  at  some  other  time  reply  to  my  question. 
Since  then  I  have  had  no  opportunity  of  introducing 
the  subject  again  to  him,  other  objects  wholly  absorb 
ing  our  attention  when  we  met.  Yet  in  the  interim 
I  was  forced  irresistibly  to  notice  these  people  and 
their  hard  tasks ;  for,  though  they  were  never  seen  in 
the  streets  mingling  with  the  citizens  (save  only  in  pal 
aces,  where  handsome  Hebrew  youths  often  serve  as 


ISRAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  103 

pages),  yet  where  temples,  and  granaries,  and  walls,  and 
arsenals,  and  treasure-houses  were  being  erected,  they 
were  to  be  found  in  vast  numbers.  Old  and  young 
men,  women,  and  children,  without  distinction,  were 
engaged  in  the  plain  across  which  we  moved. 

"  Pardon  me,  noble  prince,"  I  said ;  "  permit  me  to 
linger  a  moment  to  survey  this  novel  scene." 

liemeses  drew  up  his  horses,  and  from  the  chariot  I 
cast  my  eyes  over  the  vast  level  which  embraced  half  a 
square  league. 

"  These  fields,  Sesostris,"  said  the  prince,  "  are  where 
the  brick  are  made  which  are  to  erect  the  walls  of  the 
treasure-city,  one  of  the  towers  of  which  you  behold 
two  miles  distant.  The  city  itself  will  take  the  years  ot 
a  generation  of  this  people  to  complete,  if  the  grand 
design  is  carried  out.  On  the  left  of  the  tower  you  see 
the  old  palace,  for  this  is  not  a  new  city  we  are  building 
so  much  as  an  extension  of  the  old  on  a  new  site,  and 
with  greater  magnificence.  It  is  my  mother's  pride  to 
fill  Egypt  with  monuments  of  architecture  that  will 
mark  her  reign  as  an  era." 

-*-•  The  scene  that  I  beheld  from  the  height  of  the  chariot 
I  will  attempt  to  describe,  my  dear  mother.  As  far  as  I 
could  see,  the  earth  was  dark  with  people,  some  stooping 
down  and  with  wooden  mattocks  digging  up  the  clay  ; 
others  were  piling  it  into  heaps ;  others  were  chopping 
straw  to  mix  with  the  clay ;  others  were  treading  it 
with  their  feet  to  soften  it.  Some  with  moulds  were 
shaping  the  clay  into  bricks.  Another  stood  by  with 
the  queen's  mark,  and  stamped  each  brick  therewith,  01 
the  one  which  was  to  be  the  head  of  a  course  when  laid. 
There  were  also  the  strongest  men  employed  in  raising 


104-  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

upon  the  shoulders  of  others  a  load  of  these  bricks, 
which  they  bore  to  a  flat  open  space  to  be  dried  in. 
the  sun;  and  a  procession  of  man}7  hundreds  was  con 
stantly  moving,  performing  this  task.  Some  of  the  slaves 
carried  yokes,  wThich  had  cords  at  each  end,  to  which 
bricks  were  fastened  ;  and  many  of  the  young  men 
conveyed  masses  of  clay  upon  their  heads  to  the  mould 
ers.  Those  who  carried  the  brick  to  the  smoothly  swept 
ground  where  they  were  to  be  dried,  delivered  them  to 
women,  who,  many  hundreds  in  number,  placed  them 
side  by  side  on  the  earth  in  rows — a  lighter  task  than 
that  of  the  men.  The  borders  of  this  busy  plain,  where 
it  touched  the  fields  of  stubble  wheat,  were  thronged 
with  women  and  children  gathering  straw  for  the  men 
who  mixed  the  clay.  It  was  an  active  and  busy  spec 
tacle.  Yet  throughout  the  vast  arena  not  a  voice  was 
heard  from  the  thousands  of  toilers  ;  only  the  sharp 
authoritative  tones  of  their  taskmasters  broke  the  still 
ness,  or  the  creaking  of  carts  with  wooden  wheels, 
as,  laden  with  straw  from  distant  fields,  they  moved 
slowly  over  the  plain. 

The  laborers  were  divided  into  companies  or  parties 
of  from  a  score  to  one  hundred  persons,  over  whom 
stood,  or  was  seated,  an  Egyptian  officer.  These  task 
masters  were  not  only  distinguishable  from  the  laborers 
by  their  linen  bonnet  or  cap  with  a  cape  descending  to 
the  neck,  but  by  a  scarlet  or  striped  tunic,  and  a  rod  or 
(whip  of  a  single  thong  or  of  small  cords.  These  men 
watched  closely  the  workmen,  who,  naked  above  the 
waist,  with  only  a  loin-cloth  upon  many  of  them,  worked 
each  moment  in  fear  of  the  lash.  The  taskmasters 
showed  no  mercy ;  but  if  the  laborer  sunk  under  his 


ISRAEL   IN"  BONDAGE.  105 

burden,  lie  was  punished  an  the  spot,  and  left  to  perish, 
if  he  were  dying,  and  his  burden  transferred  to  the 
shoulders  of  another.  So  vast  was  the  multitude  of 
these  people,  that  the  death  of  a  score  a  day  would  not 
have  been  regarded.  Indeed,  their  increase  already 
alarms  the  Egyptians,  and  their  lives,  therefore,  are  held 
in  little  estimation. 

The  vast  revenue,  however,  accruing  to  the  crown  from 
this  enslaved  nation  of  brick-makers,  leads  to  regulations 
which  in  a  great  measure  check  the  destructive  rigor 
of  the  taskmasters  ;  for  not  only  are  thousands  build 
ing  cities,  but  tens  of  thousands  are  dispersed  all  over 
Lower  Egypt,  who  make  brick  to  sell  to  nobles  and 
citizens,  the  crown  having  the  monopoly  of  this  branch 
of  labor.  Interest  alone  has  not  prompted  the  queen  to 
make  laws  regulating  their  treatment,  and  lessening  the 
rigor  of  their  lot ;  but  also  humanity,  which  is,  however, 
an  attribute,  in  its  form  of  pity,  little  cultivated  in 
Egypt.  Under  the  preceding  Pharaohs,  for  seventy 
years,  the  condition  of  these  Hebrews  was  far  more 
severe  than  it  has  been  under  the  milder  rei^n  of  the 

O 

queen.  I  am  assured  that  she  severely  punishes  all  un 
necessary  cruelty,  and  has  lightened  the  tasks  of  the 
women,  who  also  may  not  be  punished  with  blows. 

I  surveyed  this  interesting  and  striking  scene  with 
emotions  of  wonder  and  commiseration.  I  could  not  be 
hold,  without  the  deepest  pity,  venerable  and  august 
looking  old  men,  with  gray  heads  and  flowing  white 
beards,  smeared  with  clay,  stooping  over  the  wooden 
moulds,  coarsely  clad  in  the  blue  and  gray  loin-cloth, 
which  scarcely  concealed  their  nakedness :  or  fine  youths, 

bareheaded  and  burned  red  with  the  sun,  toiling  liko 

53 


106  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE   OR, 

cattle  Tinder  heavy  burdens,  here  and  there  upon  a 
naked  shoulder  visible  a  fresh  crimson  line  where  the 
lash  or  the  rod  of  an  angered  officer  had  left  its  mark ! 
There  were  yourlg  girls,  too,  whose  beautiful  faces, 
though  sun-burned  and  neglected,  would  have  been  the 
envy  of  fair  ladies  in  any  court.  These,  as  well  as  the 
others  of  their  sex,  wore  a  sort  of  tight  gown  of  coarse 
material  tied  at  the  neck,  with  short  close  sleeves  reach- 
in  o-  to  the  elbow.  Their  black  or  browrn  hair  was  tied 

o 

in  a  knot  behind,  or  cut  short.  And  occasionally  1  saw 
a  plain  silver  or  other  metallic  ring  upon  a  small  hand, 
showing  that  even  bondage  has  not  destroyed  in  woman 
the  love  of  jewels. 

As  w^e  rode  along,  those  Egyptians  who  were  near  the 
road  bowed  the  knee  to  the  prince,  and  remained  sta 
tionary  until  he  passed.  We  rode  for  a  mile  and  a  half 
through  this  brick-field,  when  at  its  extremity  we  came 
upon  a  large  mean  town  of  huts  composed  of  reeds  and 
covered  with  straw. 

L-    "  There,"  said  Remeses,  "  are  the  dwellings  of  the 
laborers  you  have  seen." 

These  huts  formed  long  streets  or  lanes  which  inter 
sected  each  other  in  all  directions.  There  was  not  a  tree 
to  shade  them.  The  streets  and  doors  were  crowded 
with  children,  and  old  Hebrew  women  who  were  left  to 
watch  them  while  their  parents  were  in  the  field.  There 
seemed  to  be  a  dozen  children  to  every  house,  and  some 
of  five  and  six  years  were  playing  at  brick-making,  one 
of  their  number  acting  as  a  taskmaster,  holding  a  whip 
which  he  used  with  a  willingness  and  frequency  that 
showed  how  well  the  Egyptian  officers  had  taught  the 
lesson  of  severity  and  cruelty  to  the  children  of  their 


ISKAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  107 

victims.  In  these  huts  dwelt  forty  thousand  Hebrews, 
who  were  engaged  either  in  making  brick,  or  conveying 
them  to  Eaamses,  close  at  hand,  or  in  placing  them  in 
mortar  upon  the  walls. 

^  We  passed  through  the  very  midst  of  this  wretched 
village  of  bondmen,  whose  only  food  in  their  habitations 
is  garlic,  and  leeks,  and  fish  or  flesh,  their  drink  the 
turbid  water  of  the  Nile,  unfiltered  from  its  impurities 
by  means  of  porous  stone  arid  paste  of  almonds — a  pro 
cess  of  art  so  well  known  to  the  Egyptians.  On  the 
skirts  of  the  village  was  a  vast  burial-place,  without  a 
tomb  or  stone ;  for  these  Hebrews  are  too  poor  and 
miserable  to  embalm  their  dead,  even  if  customs  of  their 
own  did  not  lead  them  to  place  them  in  the  earth.  The 
aspect  of  this  melancholy  place  of  sepulture  w^as  gloomy 
enough.  It  had  the  look  of  a  vast  ploughed  plain  ;  but 
infinitely  desolate  and  hideous  when  the  imagination 
pictured  the  corruption  that  lay  beneath  each  narrow 
mound.  I  felt  a  sensation  of  relief  when  we  left  this 
spot  behind,  and  drove  upon  a  green  plateau  w^hich  lay 
between  it  and  the  treasure-city  of  the  king.  The  place 
we  were  crossing  had  once  been  the  garden  of  Hermes 
or  losepf,  the  celebrated  prince  who  about  one  hundred 
and  thirty  years  ago  saved  the  inhabitants  of  Egypt  from 
perishing  by  famine,  having  received  from  the  god 
Osiris  knowledge  of  a  seven  years'  famine  to  befall  the 
kingdom,  after  seven  years  of  plenty.  This  Prince  losepf 
or  Joseph  was  also  called  Hermes,  though  he  wrote  not 
all  the  books  attributed  to  Hermes,  as  we  in  Phoenicia 
understand  of  that  personage. 

"  Was  this  Joseph  an  Egyptian  ?"  I  asked  of  the  Prince 

Remeses,  as  we  dashed  past  the  ruins  of  a  palace  in  th* 

midst  of  the    ar"1 


108  THE   PILLAR   OF  FIRE,    OR 

"  No,  a  Hebrew,"  lie  answered.  "  He  was  the  favo 
rite  of  the  Phoenician  Pharaoh  who  commenced  the 
palaces  of  this  City  of  Treasure." 

"  A  Hebrew  !"  I  exclaimed.  "  Not  one  of  the  race  I 
behold  about  me  toiling  towards  the  city  with  sun-dried 
bricks  upon  their  heads,  and  whom  I  have  seen  at  work 
on  the  plain  of  bricks?" 

"  Of  the  same,"  he  answered. 

"  Your  reply  reminds  me,  O  Remeses,  that  you  have 
promised  to  relate  to  me  the  history  of  this  remarkable 
people,  who  evidently,  from  their  noble  physiognomies, 
belong  to  a  superior  race." 

"  I  will  redeem  my  promise,  my  dear  Sesostris,"  he 
said,  smiling,  "  as  soon  as  I  have  left  the  chariot  by  yon 
der  ruined  well,  where  I  see  the  architect  and  his  people, 
whom  I  have  come  hither  to  meet,  await  me  with  their 
drawings  and  rules." 

"We  soon  drove  up  to  the  spot,  having  passed  several 
fallen  columns,  which  had  once  adorned  the  baths  of  the 
house  of  this  Hebrew  prince,  who  had  once  been  such  a, 
benefactor  to  Egypt ;  but,  as  he  was  the  favorite  of  a, 
Phoenician  king,  the  present  dynasty  neglect  his  monu 
ments,  as  well  as  deface  all  those  which  the  Shepherd 
Kings  erected  to  perpetuate  their  conquest.  Hence,  it 
is,  dear  mother,  I  find  scarcely  a  trace  of  the  dominion 
in  Lower  Egypt  of  this  race  of  kings. 

The  ruined  well  was  a  massive  quadrangle  of  stone, 
and  was  called  the  "  Fountain  of  the  Strangers."  It  was 
in  ruins,  yet  the  well  itself  sparkled  with  clear  water  as 
in  its  ancient  days.  Grouped  upon  a  stone  platform,  be 
neath  the  shade  of  three  palms,  stood  the  party  of  ar 
tists  who  awaited  the  prince.  Their  horses,  and  the  cars 


ISRAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  109 

in  which  they  came,  or  brought  their  instruments,  stood 
near,  held  by  slaves,  who  were  watering  the  animals 
from  the  fountain. 

Upon  the  approach  of  the  prince  these  persons,  the 
chief  of  whom  was  attired  handsomely,  as  a  man  of 
rank  (for  architects  in  Egypt  are  nobles,  and  are  in 
high  place  at  court),  bowed  the  knee  reverently  before 
him.  He  alighted  from  his  chariot,  and  at  once  began 
to  examine  their  drawings.  Leaving;  him  ens;ac;ed  in  a 

o  o  o    o 

business  which  I  perceived  would  occupy  him  some 
time,  I  walked  about,  looking  at  the  ancient  fountain. 
In  order  to  obtain  a  view  of  the  country,  I  ascended  a 
tower  at  one  of  its  angles,  which  elevated  me  sixty  feet 
above  the  plain.  From  this  height  I  beheld  the  glorious 
City  of  the  Sun,  a  league  and  a  half  to  the  north,  rising 
above  its  girdle  of  gardens  in  all  its  splendor.  In  the 
mid-distance  lay  the  plain  of  brick-workers,  covered 
with  its  tens  of  thousands  of  busy  workers  in  clay. 
Then,  nearer  still,  stretched  their  squalid  city  of  huts, 
and  the  gloomy  burial-place,  bordering  on  the  desert  at 
the  farther  boundary. 

Turning  to  the  south,  the  treasure-city  of  Raamses 
lay  before  me,  the  one  half  ancient  and  ruinous,  but  the 
other  rising  in  grand  outlines  and  vast  dimensions, 
stretching  even  to  the  Nile,  which,  shining  and  majestic, 
flowed  to  the  west  of  it.  Further  still  the  pyramids  of 
Memphis,  the  city  itself  of  Apis,  and  the  walls  and  tem 
ples  of  Jisah  towered  in  noble  perspective.  The  ISTile 
was  lively  with  galleys  ascending  and  descending  ; 
and  upon  the  road  that  followed  its  banks  many  peo 
ple  were  moving,  either  on  foot,  in  palanquins,  chariots, 
or  upon  horseback.  Over  the  whole  scene  the  bright 


110  THE  PILLAR  OF  FIRE,   OR 

sun  shone,  giving  life  and  brightness  to  all  I  be 
held. 

To  the  east  the  illimitable  desert  stretched  far  away, 
and  I  could  trace  the  brown  line  of  road  along  which  the 
caravans  travel  between  the  Nile  cities  and  the  port  of 
Suez,  on  the  sea  of  EzionrGeber,  in  order  to  unlade 
there  for  ships  from  Farther  Ind  that  are  awaiting 
them. 

Almost  beneath  the  crumbling  tower,  on  which  I 
stood  taking  in  this  wide  view  of  a  part  of  the  populous 
valley  of  the  Nile,  wound  a  broad  path,  well  trodden  by 
thousands  of  naked  feet.  It  was  now  crowded  with 
/...Hebrew  slaves,  some  going  to  the  city  with  burdens  of 
brick  slung  at  the  extremities  of  wooden  yokes  laid 
across  the  shoulder,  or  borne  upon  their  heads,  and 
others  returning  to  the  plain  after  having  deposited  their 
burdens.  It  was  a  broad  path  of  tears  and  sighs,  and  no 
loitering  step  was  permitted  by  the  overseers  ;  for  even 
if  one  would  stop  to  gugjicji.his  thirst  at  the  fountain, he 
was  beaten  forward,  and  the  blows  accompanied  with 
execrations.  Alas,  mother,  this  cruel  bondage  of  the 
Hebrews  is  the  only  dark  spot  whixjli  I  have  seen  in 
Egypt, — the  only  shadow  of  evil  upon  the  brilliant  reign 
of  Queen  Amense ! 

I  took  one  more  survey  of  the  wide  landscape,  which 
embraces  the  abodes  of  one  million  of  souls  ;  for  in  the 
valley  of  Egypt  are  fourteen  thousand  villages,  towns, 
and  cities,  and  a  population  of  nearly  seven  millions. 
Yet  the" valley  of  the  Nile  is  a  belt  of  verdure  only  a  few 
miles  wide,  bounded  by  the  Libyan  and  Arabian  hills. 
Every  foot  of  soil  seems  occupied,  and  every  acre  teems 
with  population.  In  the  streets,  in  the  gardens,  in  the 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  Ill 

public  squares,  in  temples,  and  courts  of  palaces,  in  the 

field,  or  on  the  river,  one  can  never  be  alone,  for  he  sees 

Hmman   beings  all  about  him,  thronging  every  place, 

^ 


engaged  either  in  business  or  pleasure,  or  the  enjoy 
ment  of  the  luxury  of  idleness  in  the  shade  of  a  column 
or  a  tree. 

Descending  the  tower,  and  seeing  the  prince  still  en 
gaged  with  his  builders,  pointing  to  the  unfinished 
towers  of  Eaamses,  and  the  site  of  the  new  palace  he 
proposed  erecting  near  by,  I  went  down  the  steps  to  the 
fountain,  to  quaff  its  cool  waters.  Here  I  beheld  an  old 
and  majestic-looking  man  bending  over  a  youth,  a  wound 
in  whose  temple  he  was  bathing  tenderly  with  water 
from  the  well.  I  perceived  at  a  glance,  by  the  acqui- 
line  nose  and  lash-shaded  dark,  bright  eye,  that  they 
were  Hebrews. 

The  old  man  had  one  -of  those  Abrahamic  faces  I 
have  described  as  extant  on  the  tomb  of  Eliezer  ot 
Damascus:  a  broad,  extensive,  and  high  forehead;  a 
boldly-shaped  eagle  nose;  full  lips;  and  a  flowing  beard, 
which  would  have  been  white  as  wool  but  that  it  was 
stained  yellow  by  the  sun  and  soil.  He  wore  the  coarse, 
short  trowsers,  and  body  cloth  of  the  bond-slave,  and  old 
sandals  bound  upon  his  feet  with  ropes.  The  young  man 
was  similarly  dressed.  He  was  pale  arid  nearly  lifeless.) 
His  beautiful  head  lay  upon  the  edge  of  the  fountain,  and 
as  the  old  man  poured,  from  the  palm  of  his  hand,  water 
upon  his  face  he  repeated  a  name,  perhaps  the  youth's. 
I  stood  fixed  with  interest  by  the  scene.  At  this  mo 
ment  an  Egyptian  taskmaster  entered,,  and  with  his 
(rod  struck  the  venerable  man  several  sharp  blows  and 
ordered  him  to  rise  and  go  to  his  task.  He  made  no 


112  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

reply — -regarded  not  the  shower  of  blows — but  bending 
his  eyes  tearfully  upon  the  marble  face  before  him,  with 
his  fingers  softly  removed  the  warm  drops  of  blood  that 
stained  the  temples. 

'ffiay,"  I  said,  quickly,  to  the  Egyptian,  "  do  not 
beat  him !  See,  he  is  old.  and  is  caring  for  this  poor 
youth !" 

The  Egyptian  looked  at  me  with  an  angry  glance,  as 
if  he  would  also  chastise  the  speaker  for  interfering; 
when  seeing  from  my  appearance  that  I  was  a  man  of 
rank,  and  perceiving,  also,  the  prince  through  a  passage 
in  the  ruined  wall,  he  bent  his  forehead  low  and  said : 

"  My  lord,  I  did  not  see  you,  or  I  would  have  taken 
the  idle  gray  beard  out  and  beaten  him." 

"  But  why  beat  him  2"  I  asked. 

"  His  load  awaits  him  on  the  road  where  he  dropped 
it,  when  my  second  officer  struck  down  this  young 
fellow,  who  stopped  to  gaze  at  a  chariot!" 

"  What  relation  do  they  bear  to  each  other  ?"  said  I. 

"  This  is  the  old  man's  youngest  son.  He  is  a  weak 
fool,  my  lord,  about  him,  and  though,  as  you  see,  he  can 
hardly  carry  a  full  load  for  himself,  he  will  try  and  add 
to  his  own,  a  part  of  the  bricks  the  boy  should  bear. 
Come,  old  man,  leave  the  boy  and  on  to  your  work !" 

The  aged  Hebrew  raised  to  my  face  a  look  of  despair v 
trembling  with  mute  appeal,  as  if  he  expected  no  inter 
position,  yet  had  no  other  hope  left. 

"  Leave  them  here,"  I  said.  "  I  will  be  responsible 
for  the  act." 

"  But  I  am  under  a  chief  captain  who  will  make  me 
account  to  him  for  every  brick  not  delivered.  The  tale 
of  bricks  that  leaves  the  plain  and  that  which  is  received 


ISRAEL  IN  BONDAGE.  113 

are  taken  and  compared.  I  have  a  certain  number  of 
men  and  boys  under  me,  and  they  have  to  make  up  in 
their  loads  a  given  tale  of  bricks  between  sun  and 
sun.  If  they  fail,  I  lose  my  wages !"  This  was  spoken 
sullenly. 

"  What  is  thy  day's  wages  ?"  I  demanded. 

"A  quarter  of  a  scarabseus,"  he  answerd.  This  is 
the  common  cheap  coin,  bearing  the  sacred  beetle  cut  in 
stone,  copper,  lead,  and  even  wood.  Higher  values  are 
represented  by  silver,  bronze,  brass,  and  gold  rings. 
Money  in  disk-form  I  have  not  yet  heard  of  in  Egypt. 
An  Egyptian's  purse  is  a  necklace  of  gold  rings  of 
greater  or  less  value.  The  scarabseus  is  often  broken  in 
four  pieces,  each  fraction  containing  a  hieroglyphic. 
The  value  is  about  equal  to  a  Syrian  neffir. 

I  placed  in  his  hand  a  copper  scarabseus,  and  said : 
"  Go  thy  way  !  This  shall  justify  thee  to  thy  conscience. 
These  Hebrews  are  too  helpless  to  be  of  further  service 
to  thee  this  day." 

The  taskmaster  took  the  money  with  a"  smile  of  grati 
fication,  and  at  once  left  the  court  of  the  fountain.  The 
old  Hebrew  looked  at  me  with  grateful  surprise,  caught 
my  hand,  pressed  it  to  his  heart,  and  then  covered  it 
with  kisses.  I  smiled  upon  him  with  friendly  sympathy, 
and,  stooping  down,  raised  the  head  of  the  young  man 
upon  my  knee.  By  our  united  aid  he  was  soon  restored 
to  sensibility. 

But,  my  dear  mother,  I  will,  with  your  permission, 
continue  my  narrative  in  another  letter.  The  trumpets, 
which  from  the  temple  of  Osiris  proclaim  that  the  last 
rays  of  the  setting  sun  are  disappearing  from  its  sum 
mit,  also  warn  me  to  draw  my  letter  to  a  close.  The 


114  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

incense  of  the  altar  rises  into  the  blue  and  golden  sky, 
and  typifies  prayer.     I  will  receive  the  lesson  it  teaches, 
and  retire  to  my  oratory  and  pray,  O  mother,  for  thy 
health  and  happiness  and  the  prosperity  of  thy  reign. 
Your  affectionate  son, 

SESOSTEIS. 


ISRAEL  IN  BONDAGE.  Hi 


LETTEE    VII. 

CITY  OF  Ox. 

MY  EOl  AL,   Afclf    BELOVED    MoTHEK  I 

I  WILL  now  continue  the  narrative  of  my  inter 
view  with  the  venerable  bond-servant  at  the  fountain  or 
"  well  of  strangers,"  near  the  treasure-city  Raamses. 

After  the  youth  had  recovered  his  senses,  I  was  for  a 
few  moments  an  object  of  profound  surprise  to  him.  He 
surveyed  me  with  mingled  fear  and  wonder. 

"  My  lord  is  good,  fear  him  not,  Israel,"  said  the  old 
man.  The  youth  looked  incredulous,  and,  had  his 
strength  permitted,  would  have  fled  away  from  me.  I 
said — 

"  I  am  not  thy  taskmaster !  Dread  not  my  presence !" 
The  tone  of  my  voice  reassured  him.  He  smiled  gently, 
and  an  expression  of  gladness  lighted  up  his  eyes.  A 
drop  of  blood  trickled  down  his  forehead  and  increased 
the  paleness  of  his  skin. 

"  What  is  thy  name  ?"  I  asked  the  old  man,  speaking 
in  Syriac,  for  in  that  tongue  I  had  heard  him  murmur 
the  name  of  his  son ;  and  I  have  since  found  that  all 
Hebrews  of  the  older  class  speak  this  language,  or 
rather  Syro-Chaldaic.  They  also  understand  and  speak 
the  Egyptian  vernacular. 

"Ben  Isaac,  my > lord!"  he  answered. 


116  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

"  Art  thou  in  bondage  ?" 

^_     .  O 

"  I  and  my  cliildren,  as  my  fathers  were-!" 

"  What  brought  tliee  and  thy  people  into  this  servi 
tude?" 

"  It  is  a  sad  history,  my  lord !  Art  thou  then  a 
stranger  in  Egypt,  that  thou  art  ignorant  of  the  story 
of  the  Hebrew  ?" 

"  I  am  a  Phcenician.  I  have  been  but  a  few  weeks  in 
Egypt." 

"  Phoenicia  !  That  is  beyond  Edom  ;  nay,  beyond 
Philistia,"  he  said  musingly.  "Our  fathers  came  far 
ther,  even  from  Palestine." 

"  Who  were  your  fathers  ?" 

"  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob." 

"  I  have  heard  of  them,  three  princes  of  Syria,  many 
generations  past !" 

"  Yes,  my  lord  of  Phoenicia,"  said  the  venerable 
man,  his  eyes  lighting  up ;  "  they  were  princes  in 
their  land !  But,  lo  !  this  day  behold  their  children 
in  bondage !  And  such  a  servitude !"  he  cried,  rais 
ing  his  withered  hands  heavenward.  "  Death,  my  lord, 
is  preferable  to  it !  How  long  must  we  groan  in  slavery  ? 
How  long  our  little  ones  bear  the  yoke  of  Egypt  ?" 

At  this  moment  one  of  the  footmen  of  Prince  Remeses 
found  me  and  said: 

"My  lord  prince  seeks  for  thee !" 

I  put  money  in  the  hands  of  the  venerable  Hebrew 
and  his  son,  and  left  them  amid  their  expressions  of 
grateful  surprise.  When  I  rejoined  Kemeses,  he  was 
already  in  his  chariot.  Having  placed  myself  by  his 
side,  he  said  that  he  would  now  drive  me  around  the 
walls  of  the  new  city,  and  show  me  its  general  plan 


ISRAEL  IN  BONDAGE.  117 

lie  had  explained  all  particulars  with  his  builders,  aud 
they  were  to  commence  the  erection  of  the  palace  of  the 
governor  the  following  week. 

The  wide  circuit  we  made  along  the  plain  afforded 
me  a  commanding  view  of  the  treasure-city  in  its  pro 
gress.  The  walls  at  one  part  were  literally  black  with 
slaves,  who  like  ants  traversed  them,  carrying  their 
burdens  of  bricks  to  those  who  laid  the  courses.  A 
vast  pile,  built  more  for  strength  than  beauty,  attracted 
my  notice.  "  That  is  one  of  the  twelve  great  granaries 
•of  the  Prince  Joseph,  which  he  built  one  hundred  and 
fourscore  years  ago,  in  the  twelve  districts  of  Egypt. 
It  is  still  in  use  as  such."  As  we  passed  the  gateway,  1 
perceived  that  the  cartouch  was  defaced.  Rerneses  said 
that  this  was  the  act  of  Amunophis,  when  he  came  to 
the  throne,  whose  policy  was  to  remove  not  only  every 
trace  of  the  rule  of  the  Palestinian  kings,  but  all  the 
memorials  which  brought  their  dynasty  to  remem 
brance  ;  and  these  granaries  of  Pharaoh's  prime  minis 
ter,  losepf  or  Joseph,  were  among  the  noblest  monu 
ments  of  the  reign  of  the  last  of  the  foreign  rulers,  the 
father  of  the  Princess  Ephtha,  from  whom  Remeses  is 
descended,  in  the  fourth  generation  only,  I  believe. 

At  length  we  stopped  at  a  beautiful  gate  of  a  small 
temple  dedicated  to  Apis.  Every  part  of  it  was  mi 
nutely  and  exquisitely  sculptured.  It  contained  a  single 
shrine,  within  which  was  the  effigy  of  the  sacred  bull, 
a  cubit  in  length,  of  solid  gold.  Boys  dressed  in  the 
finest  white  linen  were  the  officiating  priests.  While  ] 
was  admiring  this  miniature  edifice  and  the  richness  oi 
all  its  appointments,  Eemeses  said : — 

"Tliis  is  an  affectionate  tribute  of  a  mother's  love 


118  THE  PILLAR  OF  FIRE,  OR 

On  my  twelfth  birth-day  she  had  this  sacred  fane  dedi 
cated  in  honor  of  the  event.  Here  she  consecrated  me 
as  a  boy  to  the  youthful  god  Horus.  I  remember 
perfectly,  the  solemn  impression  the  whole  scene  made 
upon  my  heart  and  imagination.  Once  a  year  I  come 
hither  and  pass  a  night  watching  before  its  altar  and  in 
prayer,  rather  in  filial  acquiescence  with  her  wishes, 
which  to  me  are  laws,  than  from  reverence  for  the 
god!" 

We  had  already  alighted,  and  were  standing  on  the 
portico  of  the  temple,  which  was  of  crescent  shape,  and 
bordered  by  a  row  of  elegantly  veined  alabaster  columns 
from  Alabastron,  rich  quarries  of  the  Pharaohs  near  the 
Cataracts.  After  examining  the  temple,  and  expressing 
the  admiration  which  it  merited,  we  were  going  out, 
when  I  saw  a  young  Hebrew. girl  flying  from  the  pur 
suit  of  one  of  the  taskmasters.  Just  as  we  were  enter 
ing  the  temple,  I  had  seen  her  passing  ,with  many  other 
females,  some  laden  with  straw,  others  with  bunches  of 
leeks  and  garlic,  which  they  were  taking  to  the  fields 
for  the  dinner  of  the  laborers,  who  were  not  permitted 
to  go  to  their  huts  until  dark,  having  left  them  at  the 
first  blush  of  dawn  to  commence  their  ceaseless  toils. 
Those  women  who  worked  not  in  the  brick-fields  were 
the  providers  of  food  for  the  rest.  This  young  girl  I 
had  noticed  was  bending  painfully  under  an  intolerable 
load  of  garlic  and  leeks,  which  she  bore  upon  her  head, 
and  yet  assisting  a  tottering  woman,  who  was  walking 
by  her  side  with  an  equalty  heavy  burden  of  provisions, 
in  a  coarse  wicker-basket.  I  was  struck  with  the  ele 
gance  of  her  figure  and  with  the  beauty  of  her  face,  as 
well  as  with  her  kindness  to  her  companion,  when  she 


ISRAEL  IN"  BONDAGE.  119 

herself  needed  aid.  We  were  leaving  the  temple,  as  I 
have  said,  when  I  beheld  her  flying.  As  she  came  near, 
she  saw  the  prince,  and  cast  herself  at  his  feet,  embra 
cing  them,  and  exclaiming — •  ^ 

"O  my  lord — O  great  and  mighty  god  !  mercy! — 
save  me !" 

Itemeses  regarded  her  with  surprise,  and  said,  sternly 
yet  not  cruelly — 

"  What  dost  thou  wish  ?  "Why  dost  tliou  fly  from  thy 
taskmaster  ?" 

'SEiep  I  cast  down  my  load  and  took  up  my  mother's, 
who  was  ready  to  die,  he  struck  me  because  I  could 
not  take  both  together.  I  would  have  done  it,  O  lord 
prince,  but  had  not  the  strength." 

"  Go  back  to  thy  task,  young  woman.  Thou  shalt  not 
be  punished  for  a  kind  act  to  thy  mother.  The  gods  for 
bid  we  should  destroy  all  filial  ties,  even  among  our 
slaves."  This  last  sentence  was  spoken  rather  with  his 
own  mind  than  addressed  to  any  one.  "  What  is  this  I 
hear  ?"  he  continued,  speaking  to  the  sub-officer,  who, 
seeing  his  slave  seek  the  protection  of  Hemeses,  had 
stopped,  a  short  distance  off,  expecting  to  have  her  sent 
back  to  him.  "Didst  thou  strike  this  Hebrew  girl?" 

"  She  is  wilful  and  intractable,  your  highness,"  answer 
ed  the  man  humbly,  "  and—  v 

"-Is.  there  not  a  law  forbidding  blows  to  be  given  to 
the  females  of  this  people  ?  You  will  deliver  your  rod 
of  office  to  my  chief  servant  here,  and  are  no  longer  a 
taskmaster.  It  shall  be  known,  that  it  is  the  will  of  the 
queen  that  women  shall  have  light  tasks,  that  they  be 
treated  leniently,  and  not  made  to  suffer  the  punish 
ment  of  blows." 


120  .  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

The  man,  with  a  downcast  face,  came  forward,  and 
placed  his  rod  in  the  hands  of  the  chief  servant,  who  was 
the  captain  of  the  twelve  footmen  of  the  prince's  chariot, 
and  who,  at  a  glance  from  his  master,  broke  it,  and  cast 
the  pieces  upon  the  ground.  "  Now  go,  and  bring  hither 
the  basket.  I  will  see  what  are  the  burdens  you  place 
upon  the  weak",  and,  henceforth,  they  shall  be  propor 
tioned  to  the  strength  of  the  bearer." 

The  man  returned  several  hundred  yards  along  the 
road,  and  after  several  strenuous  efforts,  with  great 
difficulty  lifted  the  basket,  and  placed  it  at  the  prince's 
feet.  To  the  amazement  of  all  about  him  he  stooped 
to  raise  the  wicker-basket  of  leeks  from  the  ground. 
Putting  forth  his  strength  he  lifted  it,  for  he  is  a  man 
of  great  vigor,  but  immediately  setting  it  down  again, 
he  said,  with  indignation  flashing  from  his  eyes,  as  he 
addressed  the  disgraced  taskmaster — 

"  Seest  thou  what  thou  wouldst  compel  this  frail  child 
to  bear  upon  her  head  ?     Thou  art  cruel  and  barbarous  ! 
I  Bind  him !     He  shall  go  to  prison." 
'    "  My  lord,  I  am  not  alone — " 

"  So  much  the  worse.  If  the  abuse  is  wide-spread,  it 
is  time  to  correct  it,  and  see  that  the  law  of  the  realm  is 
observed.  Take  him  away  !" 

Two  of  the  servants  seized  him,  and,  tying  his  hands 
behind  him  with  the  thong  of  one  of  his  own  sandals, 
led  him  away  into  the  citadel  of  Raamses.  The  Hebrew 
gh-1  still  kneeled,  trembling  and  wondering.  Hemeses 
spoke  to  her  kindly,  no  doubt  moved  by  her  tears  and 
extraordinary  beauty,  and  said —  «*• 

"  Go  in  peace,  child.  Return  to  thy  mother.  Fear 
no  more  the  rod  of  thy  taskmasters.  The  hand  cf  the 


ISKAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  121 

Xat  is  laid  on  a  Hebrew  woman  shall  be  cut  off 
*  sword." 

young  girl  kissed  the  sandaled  feet  of  the  prince, 
and  hastened  to  the  spot  where  she  had  left  her  mother 
seated  on.  the  ground.  Remeses,  with  his  eyes,  followed 
her,  and  sighed.  Who  can  tell  what  heavy  thoughts 
were  passing  in  his  mind!  When  he  cornes  to  the 
throne,  I  know  him  not,  my  mother,  if  the  conditioi  of 
the  Hebrews  will  not  be  greatly  ameliorated,  and  their 
lot  rendered  far  happier.  I  saw  the  girl  embrace  and 
raise  her  mother  from  the  earth,  and  then  supporting 
her  affectionately,  lead  her  away  towards  a  group  of 
huts,  not  far  off,  in  one  of  which,  probably,  was  their 
abode. 

"  My  Sesostris,"  said  the  prince,  "  walk  with  me  along 
this  terrace.  I  have  yet  to  see  the  governor  of  the  queen's 
granaries,  and  will  converse  with  thee  until  he  arrives." 

The  terrace  ran  along  the  south  side  of  the  low  pyram 
idal  area  on  which  the  temple  was  elevated.  From  it 
there  was  u  lovely  view  of  fields,  and  gardens,  and 
groves  of  palm  and  orange  trees,  extending  over  the  land 
of  Goshen,  which  is  the  most  fertile  and  highly-culti 
vated  portion  of  Egypt  that  I  have  seen.  From  the  ter 
race,  steps  of  polished  porphyry  led  to  a  garden  fragrant 
with,  flowers,  which  were  cultivated  alongside  of  the 
temple,  in  order  to  make  of  them  offerings  of  chaplets 
to  the  god,  who  was  crowned  with  them  every  morning 
by  the  "flower  priest."  The  office  of  this  dignitary  was 
as  sacred  as  his  who  offered  incense,  which  indeed  is  but 
the  fragrance  of  flowers  in  another  form,  purified  by  fire. 
In  this  garden  I  saw  the  myrobalanum,  with  its  rich 
fruit,  out  of  which  a  rare  ointment  is  extracted  for 

6 


122  THE    PILLAR   OF    FIRE,    OR 

anointing  the  priests ;  the  phoenicobalanus,  which  bears 
an  intoxicating  fruit,  and  gives  to  the  priests  who  eat  of 
it  divining  powers ;  the  graceful  palma,  or  sheath  for  the 
palm-flowers  ;  the  almond-tree,  brilliant  with  its  flower 
ing  branches  ;  the  wine-giving  myxa ;  the  ivory-palm 
fruit,  of  which  censers  are  made  ;  the  mimosa  Is  ilotica, 
and  the  golden  olive  of  Arsinoe.  All  these  grew  on  one 
path,  which  traversed  the  garden  close  to  the  terrace, 
and  I  enumerate  them,  dear  mother,  as  I  know  your  hor 
ticultural  taste,  and  that  any  thing  about  the  plants  of 
Egypt  will  gratify  you.  I  have  already  selected  several 
of  the  most  beautiful,  and  intend,  by  the  first  ship  that 
sails  for  Tyre  from  the  Kile,  to  forward  them  to  you. 
That  they  may  be  cared  for,  and  rightly  managed  when 
you  receive  them,  I  shall  send  with  them  an  Egypdan 
gardener.  I  have  seen  no  oaks  in  Egypt,  nor  does  our 
majestic  Libanian  cedar  grow  here.  It  is  a  land  ri*ther 
of  flowers  than  of  trees.  The  myrtle  is  everywhere 
seen  as  an  ornamental  tree,  and  is  highly  odoriferous 
in  this  climate.  Here,  I  saw  also  the  endive,  and 
the  Amaracus,  from  the  latter  of  which  the  celebrated 
Amaracine  ointment,  used  to  anoint  the  Pharaohs,  is  ex 
pressed.  One  bed  of  variegated  flowers,  at  the  end  of 
the  terrace,  attracted  my  attention  from  their  combined 
splendor.  There  were  the  edthbah,  with  its  proud  purple 
flower;  the  ivy-shaped-leaved  dulcamara,  used  by  the 
priests  for  sacred  chaplets ;  also  the  acinos,  of  which 
wreaths  are  made  by  maidens,  to  wear  intermingled  with 
their  braided  tresses.  Above  all  towered  the  heliochry- 
sum,  with  which  the  gods  are  crowned,  and  by  it  grew 
its  rival,  the  sacred  palm,  the  branches  of  which  are 
borne  at  the  feasts  of  Isis. 


ISKAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  123 

There  were  many  other  rare  and  beautiful  plants,  bnt 
I  have  enumerated  these  to  show  you  what  a  land  of 
flowers  is  this  sunny  land  of  Osiris  and  Isis. 

The  prince,  after  we  had  once  traversed  the  terrace  in 
silence,  turned  his  thoughtful  face  towards  me  and  said, 
betraying  what  was  upon  his  thoughts — 

"  Prince,  this  is  the  problem  of  Egypt.  Its  solution 
calls  for  greater  wisdom  than  belongs  to  man !" 

"  You  mean  the  bondage  of  the  Hebrew  people  ?"  I 
answered,  at  once  perceiving  the  meaning  of  his  words. 

"  Yes,"  he  replied,  with  a  sigh  and  a  grave  brow.  "  I 
have  promised  to  acquaint  you  with  their  history. 
("Listen,  and  as  far  as  I  know  it  you  shall  have  it  given 
to  you.  Our  records,  kept  and  preserved  by  the  priest? 
in  the  Hall  of  Books  in  the  Temple  of  the  Sun,  give  the 
following  account  of  the  origin  of  this  race,  which,  al 
lowing  for  the  errors  that  are  interwoven  in  all  mere 
tradition,  is,  no  dpubt,  worthy  of  credit. 
(v  "  About  four  hundred  years  ago,"  says  the  History  of 
the  Priests,  "  there  arrived  in  the  land  of  Palestine  a 
Syrian  prince  from  Mesopotamia  or  Assyria,  with  large 
flocks  and  herds ;  having  formed  an  alliance  with  Mel- 
cliisedec,  king  of  Salem,  the  two  dwelt  near  one  another 
in  peace  and  friendship, — for  not  only  was  the  Assyrian 
wise  and  upright,  but  the  gods  were  with  him,  and  blessed 
and  prospered  him  in  all  that  he  did." 

"  This  Melchisedec  the  king,"  I  said,  "was  also  favored 
of  his  god ;  and  his  virtues  have  come  down  to  us  fra 
grant  with  the  beauty  of  piety  and  good  deeds." 

"  Tradition  has  been  faithful  to  him,"  answered  Eeme- 
ses.  "  Among  the  Arabian  priests  of  Petra  he  is  held  as 
a  god,  who  came  down  on  earth  to  show  kings  how  to 


124  THE   PILLAR   OF    FIRE,    OR 

reign  and  benefit  mankind.  With  him  the  Prince  of 
Assyria,  Abram,  was  on  terms  of  the  closest  friendship. 
At  length  a  famine  arising  in  the  land  where  he  dwelt, 
he  came  down  into  Egypt  just  after  the  invading  hosts 
of  Phoenicia  and  Palestine  had  inundated  our  kingdom, 
and  conquering  On  and  Memphis,  had  subdued  Lower 
Egypt,  and  set  up  their  foreign  dynasty,  known  as  that 
of  the  Hyksos  or  Shepherd  Kings." 

"  This  history  is  well  known  to  our  archives  kept  in 
the  temple  of  Astarte  at  Tyre,"  I  answered ;  "and  therein 
we  learn  that  the  hero  SAITES.  who  had  a  warlike  spirit 
which  could  not  find  field  in  Lower  Syria,  was  threat 
ened  by  famine,  and  hearing  of  the  abundance  in  Egypt 
and  the  splendor  of  its  cities,  combined  with  the  ener 
vating  habits  which  grow  out  of  luxury  and  unbroken 
peace,  he  conceived  the  idea  of  its  invasion  ;  and  at  the 
head  of  an  undisciplined  but  brave  army  of  one  hundred 
and  seventy  thousand  men,  horse-men  aj^d  footmen,  with 
three  hundred  chariots  of  iron,  he  descended  through 
Arabia  Deserta,  and  entered  Egypt  by  the  desert  of  the 
sea,  capturing  and  fortifying  Ezion-Geber  on  his  march." 

"  These  particulars  are  not  so  fully  given  by  our  his 
torians,"  answered  Remeses.  "  This  ambitious  warrior 
having  entered  the  Sethroite  country,  encamped  and 
founded  a  city  which  he  made  his  arsenal  of  war ;  and 
from  it  he  sent  out  his  armies  and  conquered  Memphis 
and  the  whole  of  Lower  Egypt.  The  kings  of  Egypt, 
abandoning  to  him  Lower  Egypt,  retired  with  their 
court  and  army  to  the  Thebaid,  and  were  content  to 
reign  there  over  half  the  kingdom,  while  the  haughty 
conquerors  established  their  foreign  throne  at  Mem 
phis. 


ISEAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  125 

"  It  was,"  continued  Remeses,  "  during  the  reign  of 
Bnon,  the  first  Phoenician  Pharaoh  after  the  death  of 
the  conqueror,  that,  Abram  came  into  Egypt.  He  had 
known  this  prince  in  Palestine  when  he  was  in  his  youth, 
and  the  king  gladly  welcomed  so  powerful  a  lord  and 
warrior,  who  had  in  battle  overthrown  Chedorlaomer, 
the  mighty  Iving  of  Elam,  and  whose  language  was 
nearly  similar  to  his  own.  This  Prince  Abram  dwelt  in 
Egypt  during  the  continuance  of  the  famine  in  Syria, 
and  near  the  court  of  the  king,  who  not  only  took  him 
into  his  counsels,  but  lavished  upon  him  great  riches. 
'But  the  king,'  says  the  history,  '  becoming  enamored  of 
the  beautiful  Princess  Sara,  the  wife  of  the  Lord  of 
Palestine,  Abram  removed  from  his  court ;  and  with 
great  riches  of  gold,  silver,  cattle,  and  servants,  marched 
out  of  Egypt  into  Arabia  of  the  South,  and  so  to  his 
own  city.' " 

"It  is  probably,"  I  said,  "from  this  fact  of  Prince 
Abrarn's  coming  into  Egypt  about  the  time  that  the 
Phoenicians  came,  that  some  traditions  have  made  him 
its  conqueror  and  the  founder  of  the  dynasty  of  the 
Shepherd  Kings." 

"  Yes  ;  for  this  Abram  was  not  only  eminent  as  a  war 
like  prince,  but  his  usual  retinue  was  an  army,  wherever 
he  moved  ;  and  no  doubt  Brion,  the  king,  willingly  let 
him.  depart  when  he  had  offended  him,  rather  than  meet 
the  valor  of  the  arm  which  had  already  slain  five  kings 
of  the  East,  and  taken  their  spoil.  At  length  Prince 
Abram  died  and  left  a  son,  who  .succeeded  him  not 
only  in  his  riches  but  his  wisdom.  After  a  time  he  also 
died  and  left  a  son,  Prince  Jacob,  who  had  twelve  sons, 
all  princes  of  valor — but  who,  like  the  Arabians  of  to- 


26  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

day,  lived  a  nomadic  life.  One  of  these  brothers  wag 
beloved  of  his  father  more  than  the  others  ;  and,  moved 
by  envy,  they  seized  upon  him  and  sold  him  to  a  cara 
van  of  the  bands  of  Ishmael,  the  robber  king  of  Idnmea, 
as  it  was  on  its  way  to  Egypt.  These  barbarians  sold 
the  young  Prince  Joseph  to  an  officer  of  the  king's  pal 
ace,  Potipharis,  captain  of  the  guard,  whose  descendant, 
Potiphar-Meses,  is  the  general  of  cavalry  you  met  at  the 
queen's  banquet.  This  officer  became  the  friend  of  the 
young  Syrian,  and  raised  him  to  a  place  of  honor  in  his 
household.  In  the  course  of  time  the  king,  who  was 
the  eminent  Pharaoh-Apophis,  dreamed  a  dream  which 
greatly  troubled  his  mind,  and  which  neither  his  sooth 
sayers,  magicians,  nor  the  priests  could  interpret.  Jo 
seph,  who  was  eminent  lor  his  piety,  love  of  truth,  and 
devotion  to  his  God,  being  in  prison — to  which,  on  some 
false  charge  of  seeking  the  love  of  his  master's  wife,  he 
had  been  committed — had  interpreted  the  dreams  of 
two  prisoners,  one  of  whom,  being  released  and  hearing 
of  the  king's  dream,  sent  him  word  that  while  in  prison 
the  Hebrew  captive  had  truly  interpreted  a  dream,  which 
both  he  and  his  companion  had  dreamed.  Thereupon 
Pharaoh  sent  for  the  Hebrew,  who  interpreted  his  dream, 
which  prophesied  seven  years  of  great  plenty,  such  as 
was  never  known  in  Egypt,  and  seven  years  to  follow 
them  of  such  scarcity  as  no  kingdom  on  earth  had  ever 
suffered  from.  And  when  the  Hebrew  had  recom 
mended  the  king  to  appoint  an  officer  to  gather  in  the 
corn  during  the  years  of  plenty,  and  to  husband  it  in 
treasure-houses  against  the  seven  years  of  scarcity,  Ap- 
ophis  at  once  elevated  him  to  that  high  position.  Re- 
noving  from  his  hand  his  own  signet  ring,  he  placed  it 


ISRAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  127 

upon  the  finger  of  Joseph ;  and,  having  arrayed  him  in 
vestures  of  line  linen  and  placed  a  gold  chain  about  his 
neck,  presented  him  with  the  second  state-chariot  to  ride 
in,  and  made  him  ruler  over  all  his  realm,  commanding 
all  men  to  bow  the  knee  before  him  as  to  a  prince  of  the 
blood,  and  second  in  power  only  to  himself?' 
y_^And  these,"  I  said,  glancing  at  a  group  of  Hebrew 
laborers  not  far  off,  who  were  seated  upon  a  ruin  eating 
garlic  and  coarse  bread  for  their  noon-day  meal — "  and 
Jthese  are  of  the  same  blood  ?" 

"  Yes,  Sesostris !  But  you  shall  hear  their  history. 
This  Joseph  reigned  in  Egypt  above  threescore  years, 
holding  in  his  hand  the  supreme  power,  save  only  that 
he  wore  not  the  crown  of  Apophis,  who,  given  up  to 
pleasure  or  to  wrar,  gladly  relieved  himself  of  the  active 
cares  of  state.  But  while  he  was  early  in  power,  and 
yet  a  young  man,  his  father  and  brothers  were  driven 
into  Egypt  by  the  seven  years'  famine,  which  followed 
the  seven  years  of  plenty  ?" 

"Then,"  I  interrupted,  "the  dream  of  Pharaoh  was 
rightly  read  by  the  Hebrew  youth  ?" 

"  In  all  particulars  he  interpreted  it  with  the  wisdom 
of  a  god,  who  sees  into  the  future  as  into  the  past !  But, 
to  resume  my  narrative — he  recognized  his  father,  Jacob, 
and  his  brethren." 

"  Did  he  make  use  of  his  power  to  punish  the  latter . 
for  their  cruelty  in  selling  him  into  bondage  ?" 

"  On  the 'contrary,  he  forgave  them!  At  first  they 
did  not  recognize  their  shepherd  brother  in  the  power 
ful  and  splendid  prince  of  Egypt,  before  whom  they 
came  under  his  name  of  Hermes-Osiris,  which  Pharaoh 
had  conferred  upon  him." 


128  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

"  It  must  have  been  both  a  wonderful  surprise  and  a 
source  of  terror  to  them  when  they  at  length  found  in 
whose  presence  they  bowed,"  I  said,  picturing  in  my 
mind  the  scene  when  they  perceived  who  he  was.  I 
imagined  not  only  the  trembling  fear  of  the  men,  but 
the  joy  of  the  venerable  father. 

"Doubtless  a  most  touching  and  interesting  inter 
view,"  answered  Remeses.  "Instead  of  avenging  their 
cruelty  he  entertained  them  in  his  palace  with  a  ban 
quet,  and  afterwards  solicited  of  Pharaoh,  who  refused 
him  no  request,  that  his  father  and  brethren  might  dwell 
in  the  land." 

At  this  moment  a  tall  Hebrew  young  man  passed, 
returning  with  a  proud,  free  step,  having  carried  his  bur 
den  and  placed  it  by  a  well,  which  some  workmen  were 
repairing.  I  gazed  upon  him  with  interest,  fancying  I 
beheld  in  his  face  the  lineaments  of  the  prince  of  whom 
Remeses  was  talking.  I  thought,  too,  the  eyes  of  my 
companion  followed  the  youthful  bondman,  as  he  went 
away,  with  something  like  a  kindred  sentiment ;  for,  as 
he  discoursed  of  the  glory  and  virtues  of  Prince  Joseph, 
it  was  impossible  that  we  should  not  be  drawn  nearer,  as 
it  were,  to  these  hapless  captives  of  his  race. 

"  It  was  in  this  part  of  Egypt  where  the  Syrian  patri 
arch  dwelt.  This  very  temple  is  erected  upon  the  site 
of  his  habitation,  and  from  here,  as  far  as  you  cdn 
see,  stretched  the  rich  fields  and  fertile  plains  occu 
pied  by  him,  his  sons,  and  their  descendants.  Here 
they  erected  cities,  most  of  which  were  destroyed  by  the 
subsequent  dynasty,  with  all  the  monuments  of  Joseph's 
power ;  and  here  they  dwelt  for  seventy  years  in  peace 
and  plenty,  increasing  in  numbers,  wealth,  and  intelli- 


ISRAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  120 

gence — their  best-educated  men  holding  offices  in  the 
State,  and  commanding  the  respect  and  confidence  not 
only  of  the  king,  but  of  the  Egyptians." 

But,  my  dear  mother,  it  is  time  I  close  this  letter. 
Until  I  again  take  up  my  pen  to  write  you,  remain  as 
sured,  I  pray  you,  of  my  filial  reverence  and  love. 

Tour  affectionate 

SESOSTRIS. 


130  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,   OR 


LETTEE    VIII. 

PALACE  OF  AMENSE. 

MY  HONORED  AND  BELOVED  MOTHER  I 

MY  last  letter  closed  with  the  narration  of  a  his 
tory  of  the  Hebrews,  from  the  lips  of  Prince  Remeses, 
to  which  I  listened  as  we  walked  to  and  fro  on  the  ter 
race  of  the  temple.  I  will  in  this  letter  continue,  or 
rather  conclude,  the  subject,  feeling  that  it  will  have 
interested  you  quite  as  deeply  as  it  has  engaged  my 
attention. 

The  governor  of  the  queen's  granaries  having  arrived, 
mounted  upon  a  handsomely  caparisoned  horse,  and  at 
tended  by  runners,  the  prince  at  once  gave  him  the 
orders  for  which  he  came,  and  then,  dismissing  him  with 
a  waive  of  his  hand,  turned  to  me,  as  I  was  watching 
the  majestic  flight  of  several  eagles  of  prey,  which, 
circling  above  my  head  at  a  great  height,  with  seem 
ingly  immovable  wings,  through  cutting  the  air  so  swift 
ly,  gradually  diminished  the  circles  of  their  flight,  and 
descended  upon  some  object  not  far  distant,  on  the  road 
leading  to  another  treasure-city,  called  Pithom,  many 
leagues  up  the  Nile,  which  the  Hebrews  had  built  for 
Amunophis  L,  threescore  years  and  more  ago. 

"  I  will  now  resume  my  history  of  the  Hebrews,  my 
dear  Sesostris,"  said  the  prince,  "  and  will  be  brief,  as 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  131 

we  must  return  to  On.  The  Prince  Joseph,  as  I  have 
said,  obtained  for  his  father  and  brethren  all  this  fair 
plain,  the  heart  and  beauty  of  Egypt.  Here  they  dwelt 
when  the  old  man  died,  after  seventeen  years'  residence 
in  Egypt ;  and  the  Hebrew  prime  minister  of  the  king 
made  for  his  father  a  funeral  such  as  few  kings  receive. 
It  is  said  to  have  been  more  magnificent  than  that  of 
Osirtasen  L,  of  which  our  poets  have  sung.  By  Pha 
raoh's  command,  as  his  favorite  wished  to  bury  his  father 
in  Palestine,  a  vast  army  went  up  with  the  body, — 
chariots,  horsemen,  and  footmen, — so  that  to  this  day  the 
splendor  and  pomp  of  the  funeral  is  a  tradition  through 
out  the  lands  they  traversed.  Joseph  then  returned  to 
Egypt,  and  ruled  sixty-one  years,  until  both  he  and 
Apophis  the  king  were  waxed  in  years.  At  length 
he  died,  and  was  embalmed,  and  his  body  placed  in  the 
second  pyramid,  which  you  behold  a  little  to  the  right, 
of  Memphis.  There  his  body  does  not  now  rest,  for, 
after  the  expulsion  of  the  Phoenician  dynasty,  the  He 
brews  secretly  removed  it,  and  its  place  of  concealment 
is  known  only  to  themselves.  There  is  a  saying  among 
them  that  the  bones  of  this  prince  shall  rise  again,  and 
(  that  he  shall  go  with  them  forth  from  Egypt  to  a  new 
and  fair  country  beyond  Arabia." 

"Then  they  have  a  hope  of  being  one  day  delivered 
from  their  present  condition  ?"  I  asked. 

"  It  is  a  part  of  their  faith,  and  inborn,  if  I  may  so 
speak.  It  is  this  hope,  I  think,  which  makes  them  bear 
up  so  patiently  under  their  servitude." 

"  And  how,  noble  Remeses,  were  they  reduced  to  bond 
age  in  the  fair  land  wherein  they  once  dwelt  so  peace 
fully,  under  the  benign  sway  of  their  mighty  brother?" 


132  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

"  The,  answer  to  this  question,  my  Sesostris,"  said  the 
prince,  "  will  involve  a  history  of  the  overthrow  of  the 
dynasty  of  the  Phoenician  conquerors,  which  lasted  over 
two  hundred  years,  with  a  succession  of  six  kings.  Upon 
the  death  of  the  Prince  Joseph  in  his  one  hundred  and 
tenth  year,  Apophis  the  king,  being  also  of  great  age,  be 
came  incapable  of  managing  his  kingdom,  which  he  had 
for  sixty  years  intrusted  to  the  hands  of  his  Hebrew  prime 
minister.  Ignorant  of  the  true  condition  of  his  govern 
ment — known  to  but  few  of  his  subjects — aged  and  imbe 
cile,  he  wras  incapable  of  holding  the  reins  of  state,  left  by 
the  Hebrew  in  his  hands.  The  ever-jealous  and  watch 
ful  king  of  the  Thebaid,  in  Upper  Egypt,  did  not  delay 
to  take  advantage  of  an  opportunity  like  this  to  attempt 
the  restoration,  in  Lower  Egypt,  of  the  ancient  throne 
of  the  native  Pharaohs,  by  the  expulsion  of  the  usurp 
ing  dynasty.  But,  my  Sesostris,  you  know  well  the 
subsequent  history — how  Pharaoh  Amosis,  with  his  The- 
ban  hosts,  drove  them  from  city  to  city,  and  finally- pur 
sued  them  into  Arabia,  whence  they  settled  in  the  land 
of  the  Philistines,  and,  capturing  Salem,  made  it  their 
capital  city — at  least  such  is  one  of  the  traditions." 

"  They  held  it  for  a  time,"  I  answered,  "  but,  being 
driven  from  it  by  the  King  of  Elam,  they  subsequently 
fortified  Askelon.  They  are  still  a  powerful  people, 
under  the  name  of  Philistines  ;  and,  what  is  singular, 
retain  scarcely  a  custom  derived  from  the  two  hundred 
and  twenty-five  years'  residence  and  reign  in  Egypt." 

"  It  is  not  more  remarkable  than  the  fact  that  their 
domination  here  made  no  impression  upon  the  people  ot 
Egypt ;  they  left  no  words  of  their  own  in  our  language, 
and  no  customs  of  theirs  were  adopted  by  the  Egyptians 


ISRAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  133 

They  simply  held  military  possession  of  the  kingdom, 
living  in  fortified  cities  and  levying  tribute  upon  the 
people  for  their  support.  The  few  monuments  they 
erected  were  defaced  or  overthrown  by  the  victorious 
Theban  king  and  restorer,  Amosis,  my,  great  ancestor, 
or  by  his  successor,  A  munophis  I. 

"  When  these  invaders  were  expelled  from  Lower 
Egypt,  then  the  two  crowns  of  the  Theba'id  and  Mem- 
phitic  kingdoms  became  united  in  the  person  of  Amu- 
nophis,  the  son  of  '  the  Restorer,'  and  it  is  this  Theba'id 
dynasty  which  now  holds  the  sceptre  of  the  two  king 
doms,  and  which  is  represented  in  the  person  of  iny 
mother,  the  daughter  of  Ainunophis,  who  died  when 
she  was  a  young  girl.  She  has  ever  since  reigned  with 
the  title  of  '  the  Daughter  of  Pharaoh,'  being  so  called 

O  '  <3 

by  the  people  when  she  ascended  the  throne  of  Mem 
phis  and  Thebes.,  But  my  dear  prince,"  said  Remeses, 
with  a  smile,  "  I  have  been  giving  you  the  history  of 
the  dynasty  of  my  race,  rather  than  of  the  Hebrew 
people." 

"  I  am  not  the  less  interested,  dear  Remeses,"  I  said, 
"  and  perceive  that  the  two  histories  are  naturally 
united." 

"  Yes.  The  new  king,  Amosis,  called  '  Restorer,'  upon 
the  obelisk  at  Memphis  which  bears  his  name,  and  upon 
which  the  scenes  of  the  expulsion  of  these  Philistine  sol- 
dier-monarchs  are  depicted  with  great  spirit  and  fidelity 
— the  new  king,  I  say,  upon  driving  out  the  invaders, 
keeping  the  Phoenician  king's  fair  daughter,  Ephtha,  as 
his  wife,  turned  his  attention  to  the  other  class  of  stran 
gers,  who  had  the  fairest  portion  of  Egypt  for  their  pos 
session.  He  accordingly  visited,  in  state,  the  city  of  Sue- 


134:  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

coth,  in  the  province  of  Goslien,  which  they  had  built 
and  beautified  during  the  seventy  years  they  had  dwelt 
there  under  Prince  Joseph's  mild  and  partial  rule.  It 
was  without  wralls,  wholly  unfortified,  and  had  not  even 
a  temple — for  -the  Hebrews  of  the  better  class  wor 
ship  only  with  the  intellect,  a  spiritual  Deity  in  his 
unity." 

"  Which,  if  I  dare  speak  so  boldly  to  you,  O  Remeses," 
I  said,  uap£ears  to  me  to  be  the  noblest  species  of  wor 
ship,  and  the  purest  sort  of  religion  for  an  intellectual 
being." 

"  Sayest  tliou  ?"  quickly  demanded  the  prince,  sur 
veying  my  face  with  his  full  bright  gaze.  "  Thou  art  in 
advance  of  the  rest  of  mankind,  my  Sesostris !  The  same 
(,.  feeling  exists  in  my  own  bosom ;  but  I  believed  myself 
alone  in  experiencing  it.  Some  day  we  will  hold  dis 
course  together  on  this  high  mystery.  (There  seems  to 
come  up  from  my  childhood  a  voice  which  I  can  never 
silence,  and  which  I  hear  loudest  when  I  am  most  sol 
emnly  engaged  in  the  sacred  rites  of  the  altars  of  our 
gods,  saying — 

"  '  Son  of  earth,  there  is  but  one  GOD,  invisible,  eter 
nal,  uncreated,  and  whose  glory  He  will  not  share  wTith 
another ;  worship  Him  with  the  spirit  and  with  the  un 
derstanding.'  " 

"  Tliis  is  remarkable,"  I  said,  "  for  such  also  is  the 
mystery  taught  by  the  priests  of  Chaldea,  of  whom  Mel- 
chisedec  was  the  first  high-priest.  I  have  read  their 
sacred  books  in  Damascus." 

"  I  have  never  seen  them  ;  yet  this  voice  forces  itself 
upon  me  everywhere,  my  Sesostris.  All  is  dark  and 
inscrutable  to  us  mortals.  "We  hang  our  faith  upon  a 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  I3h 

tradition,  and  our  hopes  upon  a  myth.  "We  feel  our 
selves  equal  or  superior  to  the  deities  we  worship,  and 
find  no  repose  in  the  observances  our  religion  demands. 
Would  that  I  had  the  power  to  penetrate  the  "blue 
heavens  above  us  and  find  out  God,  and  know  what  life 
means,  and  whence  Ve  came  and  whither  we  go." 

"  Once  across  the  Lake  of  the  Dead,"  I  answered, 
"  and  all  will  be  revealed.  Osiris  in  his  vast  judgment- 
hall  will  give  each  soul  the  key  of  the  past  and  the 
future." 

"  So  say  the  priests,  and  so  we  believe.  But  to  return 
to  the  Hebrews.  Another  time  we  will  discourse  on  these 
themes.  The  new  king  hearing  that  two  hundred  thou 
sand  and  more  foreigners  dwelt  here,  called  all  the 
elders  and  chief  men  before  him;  and  when  he  had 
questioned  them  and  heard  their  history,  and  had  learned 
that  the  Prince  Joseph,  who  had  done  so  much  to  uphold 
and  consolidate  the  Phoenician  rule,  was  one  of  their 
ancestors,  his  wrath  was  presently  kindled  against  them. 
He  saw  in  them  the  friends  and  adherents  of  the  over 
thrown  dynasty ;  both  as  allied  by  blood  to  the  great 
Hebrew  prime-minister,  and  as  originating  from  the 
same  country  with  the  expelled  Phoenician  king.  He, 
therefore,  perceiving  they  were  not  a  warlike  people, 
and  could  not  be  dreaded  as  an  army,  instead  of  declar 
ing  WOT  against  them  and  driving  them  out  of  Egypt,  as 
he  had  done  the  Syrian  kings,  resolved  to  reduce  them 
to  servitude  like  captives  taken  in  war.  Having  come 
to  this  resolution,  he  held  as  prisoners  the  chief  men 
before  him,  and  placed  the  whole  people  under  the  yoke 
of  bondage,  enrolling  them  under  task-officers,  and  put 
ting  them  to  work  upon  the  cities,  temples,  palaces,  and 


136  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

canals,  which  the  Phoenicians  had  either  destroyed,  or 
suffered  to  fall  into  ruin.  This  was  the  beginning,  my 
Sesostris,  of  the  subjugation  to  perpetual  labor  of  these 
Syrians  or  Hebrews  in  the  very  land  where  one  of  their 
family  had  ruled  next  to  the  throne..  They  have  been 
engaged  since  in  building  cities,  and  walls,  and  in  culti 
vating  and  irrigating  the  royal  wheat-fields ;  aiding  in 
hewing  stone  in  the  quarries,  and  in  all  other  works  of 
servitude  :  but  as  the  making  of  bricks  requires  no  intel 
ligence,  and  as  it  was  not  the  policy  of  Amunophis- 
Pharaoh  to  elevate  their  intellects,  but  the  contrary,  lest 
they  should  prove  troublesome,  they  have  chiefly  been 
kept  to  this,  the  most  degrading  of  all  labor." 

"  How  long  is  it'  that  they  have  been  in  this  condi 
tion  ?"  I  asked. 

"About  one  hundred  and  five  or  six  years  have 
elapsed  since  the  death  of  Prince  Joseph.  But  they 
were  gradually  reduced  to  their  present  state.  During 
the  latter  years  only  of  Amunophis  wTere  their  tasks  in 
creased.  They,  nevertheless,  multiplied  in  such  num 
bers  that  the  king  began  to  apprehend  danger  to  his 
crown  from  their  multitude." 

"  Were  there  men  ,*-mong  them  who  sought  to  free 
their  fellows?"  I  inquired. 

"  Always,  and  to  this  hour.  They  are  a  proud, 
haughty,  resolute,  and  stubborn  race.  They  bend  to  the 
yoke,  indeed,  but  with  hatred  of  the  oppressor,  not  with 
the  willing  submission  of  the  Libyan  or  Nubian  captive. 
The  king  had  reason  to  fear  from  the  increase  of  their 
numbers,  when  he  found  the  census  of  this  people  gave 
more  than  a  million  of  souls,  while  the  number  of  his 
own  subjects  in  both  provinces  did  not  exceed  six  mil- 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  137 

lions ;  his  own  Thebans  not  amounting  to  as  many  as 
the  Hebrews  numbered.  Upon  this  he  became  alarmed, 
for  he  was  about  entering  into  a  war  with  the  kings  of 
Syro- Arabia,  and  apprehended  that  being  of  the  same 
Syrian  stock  they  might  join  themselves  to  his  enemies, 
lie,  therefore,  increased  their  burdens  and  taskmasters 
in  order  to  keep  them  in  closer  subjugation  ;  but  the 
more  he  oppressed  them  the  more  they  multiplied.  In 
relating  these  facts,  O  prince,  do  not  think  I  approve 
of  cruelty  even  in  my  royal  ancestor.  It  was,  no 
doubt,  a  great  wrong  in  the  beginning  inflicted  upon 
them,  in  making  them  servants,  and  the  subsequent 
series  of  oppressions  were  but  the  natural  results  of  the 
first  act.  It  was  one  unmixed  evil  throughout.  Hav 
ing  committed  the  manifest  error  in  the  outset,  of  enslav 
ing  them  to  the  crown,  it  now  became  a  necessary  policy 
to  prevent  their  dangerous  increase.  He  would  not 
send  them  with  his  army  into  Arabia  lest  they  should 
join  his  enemies.  He,  therefore,  to  keep  down  their 
numbers,  ordered  all  the  male  infants  as  soon  as  born  to 
be  put  to.de&tlxby  the  Egyptian  women." 

"  A  dreadful  alternative  !"  I  exclaimed. 

"  Yes,  and  one  not  to  be  defended,"  answered  Reme- 
ses,  in  a  decided  tone.  "  But  Amunophis,  having  caught 
the  lion  by  the  jaws,  was  compelled  either  to  destroy 
him,  or  be  destroyed  himself.  The  result  of  the  edict 
was,  that  many  perished.  The  Nile,  it  is  said,  was  con 
stantly  bearing  down  upon  its  bosom  corpses  of  new-born 
Hebrew  babes," 

;c  Dreadful !"  I  ejaculated. 

"  It  became  so  to  the  king.  But  he  felt  that  one  or 
the  other  must  perish,  and  that  these  innocent  infants 


138  THE    PILLAR   OF    FIKK,    OR 

must  die  for  the  future  safety  of  the  kingdom.  There 
were  sad  and  tragic  scenes !  Many  a  Hebrew  mother 
fought  to  save  her  infant,  or  perished  with  it  clasped  to 
her  heart !  Many  a  desperate  father  resisted  the  soldiers 
who  sought  his  hut  for  his  concealed  child,  and  died  on 
the  threshold,  in  the  ineffectual  effort  to  save  his  son ! 
You  perceive,  Sesostris,  that  I  speak  with  emotion.  I 
have  heard  the  scenes  of  that  era  described  by  those 
who  witnessed  them.  I  was  an  infant  at  the  time,  and 
do  not  speak  of  my  own  knowledge ;  but  many  live  who 
then  saw  tragedies  of  horror  such  as  few  lands  have  wit 
nessed.  Had  I  been  Amunophis  I  think  I  should  have 
devised  some  other  way  to  ward  off  the  anticipated  dan 
ger  from  my  kingdom.  But  this  sanguinary  edict  was 
unsuccessful.  The  Egyptian  nurses  were  tenderer  of 
heart  "than  the  king,  and  saved  many  to  the  tears  and 
entreaties  of  mothers.  Thousands  of  mothers,  stifling 
every  cry  of  nature,  gave  birth  secretly,  and  in  silence,  to 
their  babes,  and  the  fathers  or  friends  stood  ready  to  fly 
with  it  to  some  prepared  concealment.  Thousands  were 
thus  saved,  as  the  innumerable  multitudes  of  men  you 
have  beheld  this  day  toiling  in  the  fields,  making  brick 
to  build  up  Eaamses^ear  witness.  The  edict  continued 
in  force  for  two  years,  when  Amunophis  died.  After 
the  seventy  days  of  mourning  were  ended,  his  daughter 
fAmense,  who  had  been  married  to  the  prince  of  the 
Thebaid,  a  nephew  of  Amunophis,  but  had  been  left  a 
widow  about  the  time  of  her  father's  death,  came  to  the 
throne  as  the  next  in  succession  to  the  double  crown. 
With  the  sceptre  was  bequeathed  to  her  the  iron  chain 
that  bound  the  Hebrews.  Young,  inexperienced  in  rule, 
without  advisers,  my  mother  knew  not  how  to  solve  the 


ISEAEL   IN"  BONDAGE.  139 

problem  these  enslaved  Syrians  presented  to  her.  As  a 
woman,  she  felt  that  she  could  originate  no  new  policy. 
But  prompted  by  humanity,  the  first  act  of  her  power 
was  to  repeal  the  edict  commanding  the  death  of  the 
infants.  This  act  alone  kindled  in  the  hearts  of  the 
whole  of  the  oppressed  people  a  sentiment  of  gratitude. 
On  the  contrary,  her  lords,  generals,  chief  princes  of  the 
nomes,  and  dukes  of  cities,  with  one  voice  assured  her 
that  this  act  of  clemency  would  destroy  her  throne. 
But  you  see,  my  Sesostris,  that  it  still  stands.  For 
thirty-four  years  she  has  reigned  over  the  empire  of 
Egypt,  and  it  has  never  before  reached  so  high  a  degree 
of  prosperity,  power,  and  strength.  Her  armies  of  the 
east,  and  of  the  south,  and  of  Libya,  are  superior  to 
those  of  all  nations." 

"  Yet  is  the  problem  more  intricate,  and  farther  from 
solution  than  ever,"  I  said  to  the  prince.  "  The  He 
brew  is  still  in  the  land,  still  increasing  in  numbers,  and 
now  far  more  formidable  than  in  the  reign  of  your 
grandsire,  Amunophis." 

/^  This  is  true.  My  mother  and  I  have  talked  for 
hours  together  npon  the  theme.  She,  with  her  wom 
an's  gentler  nature,  would  not  oppress  them,  yet  has 
she  been  compelled  by  necessity  to  hold  them  in  strict 
subjugation,  lest  they  become  a  formidable  element 
of  insurrection  in  the  kingdom.  So  far  as  is  consistent 
with  safety  to  her  two  crowns,  she  mitigates  the  severity 
of  their  condition  ;  and  as  you  have  understood,  has  for 
bidden  the  women  to  be  struck  with  blows,  or  put  to  heavy 
toil.  Still  it  is  not  easy,  among  so  many  thousand  task 
masters,  and  so  many  myriads  of  bondmen,  to  oversee 
all  individual  acts  of  oppression ;  but  when  brought  to 


140  THE    PILLAR   OF    FIRE,    OR 

our  notice  they  are  severely  punished.  The  condition  of 
the  Hebrew  is  an  incubus  upon  the  soul  of  my  noble 
mother,  and  if  it  were  in  her  power,  with  safety  to  her 
subjects,  to  release  them  to-morrow  from  their  bondage, 
she  would  do  so.  But  state  policy  demands  imperative 
ly,  rigid  supervision,  severe  discipline,  and  constant 
labor,  lest  being  idle,  and  at  liberty  to  go  where  they 
choose,  they  conspire  against  us.  Several  times  agents 
from  the  King  of  Ethiopia,  our  natural  and  hereditary 
foe,  with  whom  we  are  almost  always  at  war,  have  been 
discovered  among  them ;  and  arms  have  been  placed  in 
their  possession  by  the  spies  of  the  Queen  of  Arabia. 
They  have,  moreover,  among  them  men  of  courage  and 
talent,  who,  like  their  ancestor,  Prince  Abraham,  possess 
warlike  fire,  and,  like  the  Prime  Minister  Joseph,  have 
wisdom  in  council,  to  advise  and  rule.  Such  persons, 
among  slaves,  are  to  be  feared,  and  there  is  necessary  a 
certain  severity,  you  would  call  it  oppression,  to  keep 
down  all  such  spirit." 

"  The  burdens  of  these  Hebrews  still  seem  very 
heavy,  O  Remeses,"  I  said. 

"  They  doubtless  are  ;  but  their  condition  is  far  lightei 
than  it  has  been.  They  are  allotted  certain  tasks,  ac 
cording  to  their  strength,  and  if  these  are  done  earl}' 
they  have  the  rest  of  the  day  to  themselves." 

"  And  if  late  ?" 

"  They  must  complete  their  tale  of  bricks,  unless  dis 
abled  by  sickness.  Blows  are  not  given  to  men  unless 
they  are  wilful  and  insubordinate.  Once  a  year  tho 
queen  visits  all  the  Hebrews  in  the  country  of  Avaris, 
of  which  Gosheii  forms  but  a  part,  and  regulates  abuses. 
The  Hebrew  always  has  the  right  of  appealing  to  the 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  141 

^r.  'ernor  of  .the  province,  against  his  taskmaster,  if  cru 
ell/  treated.     All  that  the  queen  can  do  is  to  execute 
with  severity  the  laws  against  oppressing  them." 
/-. "  This  Hebrew  people,   O  Kemeses,"  I  said,  as  he 
ceased   speaking,  "are   the  cloud   which   overshadows 
Egypt,     I  foresee  danger  to  the  dynasty  from  it." 

"  I  hfcve  in  vain  tried  to  settle  upon  some  policy,  to 
be  pursued — when  I  come  to  the  throne,  if  it  please 
Heaven  that  my  mother  depart  this  life  before  me,  (1 
pray  the  god  to  keep  her  to  a  good  old  age) — in  refer 
ence  to  them.  But  my  wisdom  is  at  fault.  "When  I 
take  the  sceptre  I  shall  feel  that  the  bondage  of  the 
Hebrew,  which  I  inherit  with  it,  will  make  it  lead  in 
my  hand." 

While  he  was  speaking,  the  impatient  pawing  of  his 
spirited  chariot-horses,  restrained  with  difficulty  by  three 
footmen,  reminded  him  that  we  were  delaying  at  Ra- 
amses  when  we  ought  to  be  on  our  way  back  to  On. 

"  Come,  Sesostris,  let  us  get  upon  the  chariot  and 
return,  for  I  promised  to  dine  with  my  mother  and  the 
Lord  Prince  Moeris  to-day  ;  and  it  is  already  past  noon 
by  the  shadow  of  that  obelisk." 

We  stood  upon  the  silver-chased  chariot,  and  taking 
die  leopard-skin  reins  in  his  left  hand,  he  made  a  sign  to 
his  footmen,  who,  springing  away  from  the  heads  of  the 
fretting  and  frothing  horses,  let  them  fly.  Away,  like 
the  wind,  we  swept  the  plain  in  front  of  the  treas 
ure-city  ;  along  the  plateau  where  had  stood  the  palace 
and  gardens  of  Joseph,  the  lord  of  Egypt ;  past  the 
ruined  strangers'  fountain,  where  I  had  talked  with  the 
venerable  Ben  Isaac  and  his  handsome  son  ;  past  a  well 
beside  which  Jacob  had  his  great  house,  during  tho 


142  THE  PILLAR  OF  FIRE,  OR 

seventeen  years  he  lived  in  Goshen,  the  ruins  of  which 
were  visible  a  little  ways  off  to  the  east.  On  we  rolled, 
preceded  and  followed  by  the  fleet-footed  runners, 
across  the  plain  of  the  Hebrew  brick-makers,  who  still 
bent  to  their  labors.  Women  and  children,  with  dark 
fine  eyes  and  raven  hair,  gathering  straw  by  the  way 
side  or  in  the  stubble-fields,  were  passed  in  vast  numbers. 
Crossing  an  open  space,  I  saw  before  me  a  black  mass 
on  the  ground,  which,  as  we  advanced,  proved  to  be  a 
crowd  of  vultures  or  carrion  eagles,  that  slowly  and  re 
luctantly  moved  aside  at  our  coming;  and  the  next 
moment  our  horses  shied  at  the  dead  body  of  a  man, 
around  which  they  had  been  gathered  feastingjupon  the 
flesh.  The  long  beard  and  dark  hair,  the  coarse  blue 
j  loin-cloth,  and  the  pile  of  bricks  at  his  side,  told  the 
whole  tale.  It  was  an  emaciated  Hebrew,  who  had 
perished  on  the  road-side  under  his  burden. 

I  did  not  look  at  Remeses.  I  knew  that  he  saw  and 
felt.  He  reined  up,  and  sternly  commanded  two  of 
his  footmen  to  remain  and  bury  the  body. 
j^£  Sesostris,"  he  said,  as  we  went  forward  again,  "  what 
can  be  done  ?  Humanity,  piety,  and  every  element  of 
the  soul  call  for  the  deepest  commiseration  of  this  un 
happy  people.  I  sometimes  feel  that  it  would  be  better 
to  send  them  in  a  mass  out  of  .Egypt  into  Arabia,  and 
follow  them  with  an  army  to  see  that  they  went  beyond 
our  boundaries,  and  then  establish  a  cordon  of  military 
posts  from  Ezion-Geber,  on  the  Arabian  Sea,  to  the 
shores  of  the  Great  Sea,  north.  But  how  could  we 
provide  food  for  such  a  host,  now  amounting  to  two  and 
a  half  millions  of  people?  Thousands  would  perish  in 
the  wilderness  for  want  of  water  and  food.  Only  a 


ISRAEL    IN   BONDAGE.  143 

miracle  of  the  gods  could  preserve  them,  their  women 
and  children,  from  a  lingering  death.  And  would  not 
this  be  more  cruel  than  the  edict  of  Arnunopliis ;  only 
executing  it  in  an  indirect  way,  and  on  a  gigantic  scale  ? 
I  would,  were  I  Pharaoh  to-day,  give  the  half  of  my 
kingdom  to  the  wise  man  who  could  devise  a  practicable 
way  oiireeing  Egypt  from  the  Hebrews,  without  de 
stroying  them  or  suffering  them  to  die  in  the  wilderness. 
If  men  are  ever  deified,  such  a  benefactor  would  de 
serve  the  honor." 

These  words,  my  dear  mother,  were  spoken  with  deep 
feeling,  and  showed  me  that  the  heart  of  Remeses  F 
manly  and  tender,  that  his  sentiments  are  always  ele 
vated  andvTiobL^  and  that  the  oppression  of  the  Hebrew 
is  not  so  much  the  fault  of  himself  or  of  the  queen 
mother,  as  it  is  the  irresistible  sequence  of  causes  which 
were  in  action  before  they  were  born ;  and  to  the  effects 
of  which  they  must  yield,  until  the  gods  in  their  wisdom 
and  power  make  known  to  them  the  way  to  remove 
from  the  land  so  great  an  evil:  for  none-  but  the  Deity 
Supreme  is  wise  enough  to  solve  this  intricate  problem 
of  Egypt.  Certain  it  is,  that  if  the  Hebrews  go  on  multi 
plying  and  growing  as  they  now  do,  in  another  generation 
they  will  outnumber  the  Egyptians,  and  will  need  only 
a  great  leader  like  their  warlike  ancestor  Prince  Abram, 
or  the  hero  king  of  Philistia,  who  established  the  Phoe 
nician  dynasty,  to  enable  them  to  subvert  the  king 
dom,  and  upon  its  ruins  establish  another  Syro-Hebraic 
dynasty.  One  of  their  ancestors  has  already  ruled 
Egypt,  and  another  may  yet  sit  in  the  very  seat  of  the 
Pharaohs. 

As  we  re-entered  the  City  of  the  Sun,  we  passed  by 


144  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

the  base  of  an  obelisk  which  Queen  Amense  is  erecting 
to  mark  the  era  and  acts  of  her  long  reign.  Upon  it 
were  sculptured  representations  of  her  battles  with  the 
Ethiopians,  her  wars  with  Libya,  and  her  conquest  of 
Arabia.  The  work  was  executed  by  Phoenician  and 
Egyptian  artists;  and  I  am  rejoiced  to  see  that  the 
painters  of  Tyre  and  the  sculptors  of  Sidon  are  greatly 
esteemed  for  the  delicacy  and  perfection  of  their  work. 
When  these  persons  saw  me,  they  dropped  their  pencils 
and  chisels,  and  with  their  hands  upon  their  bosoms, 
manifested  every  sign  of  delight.  You  may  suppose  I 
responded  with  more  than  usual  gratification  to  the 
homage  thus  paid  me ;  for  in  a  foreign  land  the  sight  of 
the  humblest  of  one's  own  countrymen,  refreshes  the 
eye  and  warms  the  heart. 

But  I  have  too  long  occupied  your  time,  dearest 
mother,  with  one  letter. 

Your  devoted  son, 

SESOSTRIS. 


V- 

ISKAEL    IN    BONDAGE.  145 


LETTEE    IX. 

ISLK  OF  KnoDA,  NILE. 

JftoYAL   AND   BELOVED    MoTHEK  I 

MY  preceding  letters,  dearest  mother,  have  ena 
bled  you  to  form  some  idea  of  the  Hebrew  vass'alage, 
which  is  one  of  the  peculiarities  of  Egypt.  This  sub 
ject  has  deeply  interested  me.  In  that  oppressed  people 
I  behold  Syrians  and  men  of  my  own  race,  as  it  were, 
reduced  to  such  a  pitiable  and  miserable  condition.  My 
sympathies  are  therefore  naturally  with  them.  Was  not 
.{Prince  Abram,  of  Palestine,  who  conquered  the  enemy 
of  our  ancestor's  throne  in  those  days,  Chedorlaomer, 
King  of  Elam  and  Tidal,  and  sovereign  of  the  nations 
east  of  the  inland  sea,  the  founder  of  their  family ;  and 
was  not  the  same  Abram  the  friend  of  Neathor,  the 
founder  or  restorer  of  Tyre  upon  the  Isle?  When  I 
recall  these  facts  of  past  history,  and  how  ably  the  wise 
Prince  Joseph  ruled  here,  I  am  deeply  moved  at  theii 
present  degradation  and  suffering. 

Since  writing  to  you,  I  have  conversed  with  the  queen 
upon  the  subject.  I  find  her  ready  and  willing,  with 
mind  and  heart  and  hand,  to  take  any  safe  steps  for 
putting  an  end  to  this  bondage  But,  as  she  feelingly 
says : — 


1-ifj  THE    PILL  Alt    OF   FIRE,    O& 

"  It  is  an  evil  wliich  descended  to  me  with  the  crown 
and  sceptre  of  my  father ;  and  I  know  not  how  to  reimn  e 
it,  and  yet  protect  that  crown  which  I  am  bound  to 
transmit  to  Ilemeses !" 

Such  then,  dear  mother,  is  the  present  condition  of 
Hebrew  servitude.  When  it  will  terminate,  whether  by 
some  bold  act  of  Remeses,  when  he  comes  to  the  throne, 
or  by  their  own  act,  or  by  the  intervention  of  the  gods, 
are  questions  the  solution  of  which  lies  hidden  in  the 
womb  of  the  future. 

"Not  all  the  Hebrews  are  employed  in  the  field.  It 
has  of  late  years  been  a  fashion  with  the  nobles,  gov 
ernors,  and  chief  captains  of  Egypt  to  have  the  young 
captives  of  both  sexes  as  servants  near  their  persons ; 
their  beauty,  activity,  and  trustfulness  rendering  these 
Syrian  youths  particularly  fitted  for  this  domestic  em 
ployment.  Thus,  I  have  seen  Hebrew  pages  attending 
on  lords  and  ladies  in  their  palaces,  and  Hebrew  maidens 
acting  as  personal  attendants  upon  the  mistress  of  the 
family.  These  young  foreigners  soon  become  favorites, 
and  are  rewarded  for  their  devotion  and  usefulness  by 
rich  dresses  and  jewels,  which  last  they  all  especially 
delight  in,  and  wear  in  great  quantities.  The  Egyptians, 
also,  lavishly  display  them  on  their  fingers,  in  their 
ears,  and  upon  their  necks.  Every  lord  wears  a  large 
signet,  on  which  is  carved  his  cartouch,  or  shield  of 
arms.  To  present  this  to  any  friend  is  a  mark  of  the 
highest  confidence  and  honor.  Such  an  expression  of 
regard,  you  will  remember,  the  Prince  Remeses  be 
stowed  upon  me.  "With  it  I  shall  seal  this  letter,  that 
you  may  see  its  designs  in  the  hieroglyph  representation. 

The  queen  has  three  Hebrew  pages,  noble  and  prince- 


ISRAEL    IN   BONDAGE. 

i/y-looking  boys,  with  fine,  sparkling,  black  eyes,  and 
intelligent  faces;  but  there  is  a  fixed  air  of  pensiveness 
about  them  all,  which  is  perhaps  the  result  of  heredi 
tary  oppression.  This  pensive  look  I  have  remarked 
in  Prince  Remeses,  whose  style  of  face  is  very  strongly 
Syriac  or  Hebraic.  Indeed,  I  have  seen  an  old  Xlejjrew 
bondman,  a^ajrdener  in  the  palace  garden,  by  the  name 
of  Amram,  who  is  so  strikingly  like  the  prince  that  1 
can  easily  see  by  him,  how  Remeses  himself  will  look 
at  eighty  years  of  age.  But  this  Syriac  countenance  of 
Remeses  comes  from  his  grandmother,  Ephtha,  the 
daughter  of  the  last  Phoenician  Pharaoh ;  yet  it  is  mar 
vellous  he  has  about  him  nothing  of  the  Egyptian  type. 
The  Egyptian  or  Nilotic  race,  have  a  sharp  and  promi 
nent  face,  in  which  a  long  and  straight,  or  gently  aqui 
line  nose  forms  a  principal  part.  The  eye  is  sometime? 
oblique ;  the  chin  short  and  retracted ;  the  lips  rathei 
full  and  tumid,  so  to  speak ;  and  the  hair,  when  it  is  suf 
fered  to  escape  the  razor  in  times  of  mourning,  long  and 
flowing.  The  head  is  elongated  upward,  with  a  reced 
ing  forehead.  The  profile  is  delicate,  rather  than  strong. 
This  style  of  features  and  head  is  strictly  Egyptian,  and 
pertains  to  every  class,  from  Amense  on  the  throne  to 
the  priests  and  people.  I  see  it  sculptured  on  all  the 
tombs  and  monuments,  and  carved  on  the  most  ancient 
sarcophagi.  The  head  of  Horus  is  but  a  sublimer  modi 
fication  of  this  type. 

On  the  contrary,  the  head  of  the  Hebrew  is  large  and 
round,  with  full  brows,  a  forehead  low  in  front,  and 
high  temples.  The  nose  is  strongly  eagle-like ;  the  eyes 
set  even,  but  of  an  almond-shape — yet  large,  full,  and 
exceedingly  black,  and  soft  in  expression.  The  chin  is 


148  THE   PILLAR   OF    FIRE,    OB 

full ;  the  face  oval ;  the  hair  short,  and  inclined  to  curl 
in  the  neck  and  over  the  brow.  The  profile  is  strong 
and  bold — not  unlike  the  Arabian.  The  Egyptian  is 
slender  and  light ;  the  Hebrew  usually  below  the  me 
dium  height,  with  broad  shoulders  and  full  chest.  The 
Egyptian  has  a  pale  reddish-copper  complexion — save 
the  women,  who  are  bright  olive-colored — while  the 
Hebrew  face  is  a  ruddy  and  finely  toned  brown.  The 
Egyptian  females,  when  not  exposed  to  the  sun  and 
outer  door  labor,  are  exceedingly  fair.  The  children  oi 
the  race  are  all  beautiful.  Prince  Remeses  does  not 
share  a  single  characteristic  of  this  Egyptian  national 
head  and  face ;  on  the  contrary,  he  resembles  the  high 
est  type  of  the  |lebre\\r.  Is  not  this  remarkable  ?  That 
is,  is  it  not  wonderful  that  the  Syriac  blood,  derived 
from  the  Queen  Ephtha,  should  descend  pure  to  the 
third  generation,  unmingled  with  the  Theba'id  charac 
teristics  of  Amunophis,  his  grandfather? 
<_JLam  not  aware  whether  the  prince  is.  conscious  of  his 
great  likeness  to  this  oppressed  people,  nor  would  I  be 
so  rude  as  to  speak  to  him  of  it ;  for  though  he  has  sym 
pathy  for  them,  and  tries  to  improve  their  condition, 
yet  he  possesses  that  haughty  sense  of  superiority  which 
is  natural,  in  a  prince  and  an  Egyptian  educated  to  de 
spise  them  both  as  foreigners  and  slaves  of  the  crown. 

The  father  of  Kemeses,  as  I  have  before  said,  was  the 
Vicegerent  or  Prince  of  Upper  Egypt,  and  one  of  the 
royal  line  of  the  powerful  Theban  kings.  lie  had  been 
married  but  a  few  months  to  Pharaoh's  daughter,  when, 
being  called  to  repulse  an  invasion  of  the  warlike  Ethi 
opians,  he  was  slain  in  battle.  Remeses  was  born  not 
long  afterwards,  and  is,  therefore,  in  a  twofold  degree  the 


ISRAEL   IN    BONDAGE.  14:9 

heir  of  the  silver  crown  of  the  Theba'id.  Had  lie  been 
willing  to  leave  his  mother,  she 'would,  when  he  became 
thirty  years  old  (which  is  the  age  of  maturity  by  the 
laws  of  Egvpt),  have  sent  him  with  a  splendid  retinue 
to  Upper  Egypt,  and  made  him  Prince  of  Thebes,  as  his 
father  had  been  before  him.  But  he  chose  to  remain 
with  the  queen,  to  whom  he  appears  as  much  attached 
as  I  am  to  you,  my  dear  mother;  and  Amense  substi 
tuted  a  nephew  of  her  deceased  husband,  Prince  Moeris, 
and  placed  him,  four  years  since,  on  the  vicegerent 
throne  of  the  kingdom  of  the  Upper  Nile. 

It  was  this  Prince  Moeris,  with  whom  Remeses  wras  to 
dine  in  the  palace  on  the  day  we  drove  to  the  treasure- 
city  of  Raamses.  I  was  also  present,  dear  mother,  at 
the  dinner.  The  Lord  Moeris  is  about  the  age  of  Remeses, 
but  altogether  a  very  different  person.  He  is  thoroughly 
Egyptian,  both  in  looks  and  lineage  as  well  as  by  preju 
dice  and  feeling. 

He  has  a  slender,  elegant  person  ;  delicate  straight 
features  ;  a  high,  retreating  forehead  ;  and  a  nose  slightly 
aquiline.  His  mouth  is  full-lipped  and  sensual.  His 
retreating  chin  betrays  deficiency  of  firmness,  and  an 
undue  proportion  of  obstinacy.  The  expression  of  his 
oblique,  Nubian-looking  eye,  I  did  not  like.  It  was 
sinister  and  restlessly  observant.  He  was  reserved,  and 
while  he  asked  questions  from  time  to  time,  he  never 
replied  to  any.  His  complexion  is  a  bright  olive,  and 
he  is  a  handsome  man  ;  his  rich  dress  increasing  the  fine 
effect  of  his  personal  appearance.  The  uniform  he  wore 
was  that  of  Admiral  of  the  Nile;  the  queen  having  ap 
pointed  him  commander  of  the  great  fleet  of  war-galleys 
she  has  collected  near  Memphis  for  the  subjugation  of 


150  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

Ethiopia;  He  has,  therefore,  come  down  within  a  few 
days  to  take  charge  of  his  ships.  The  character  of  this 
man  for  courage  is  undoubted,  but  he  has  the  reputation 
of  great  cruelty.  He  tarries  long  at  the  wine-cup,  and 
in  his  private  life  is  a  gross  sensualist.  He  professes 
great  piety  to  the  gods,  and  sacrifices  often,  with  pomp 
and  display.  In  Memphis  yesterday  he  burned  incense 
with  his  own  hands  to  Apis,  and  to-day  he  worshipped 
Mnevis,  the  sacred  ox  of  On. 

lie  was  more  communicative  with  me  at  the  dinner 
than  with  Remeses.  He  expressed  the  greatest  admi 
ration  of  Phoenicia,  praised  the  brilliancy  of  your  reign, 
and  the  rich  commerce  of  the  Isle  of  Tyre.  He  said  he 
had  a  great  reverence  for  our  deities,  Astarte,  Hercules, 
lo,  and  Isis  ;  for,  he  asserted  that  Isis  was  quite  as  much 
a  Phoenician  as  an  Egyptian  goddess.  "  Had  he  not  in 
Thebes,"  said  he,  "  instituted  a  procession  and  a  rite  in 
honor  of  the  return  of  Isis  from  Phoenicia!  We  are 
one  in  religion,  one  in  commerce,  one  in  glory,"  he  con 
tinued,  with  fulsome  enthusiasm.  "Are  not  our  king-- 

o 

doms  both  ruled  by  queens?  Let  us  draw  closer  the 
bonds  of  alliance,  and  together  rule  the  world  !  You 
are  a  free  city,  your  Tyre  !  never  been  conquered  ! 
Amunophis  would  have  exacted  tribute,  but  your  king 
replied :  i  Since  the  foundation  of  the  earth,  and  the 
great  Deluge  retired  from  Libanus,  Tyre  has  been  free, 
and  will  remain  free  to  the  end  of  days.' ': 

I  answered,  that  I  trusted  the  words  of  my  noble 
grandsire  would  remain  prophetic  forever.  He  then 
gave  as  a  toast : — 

o 

"Phoenicia  and  Egypt,  twin  sisters  of  Isis,  and  health 
to  their  fair  queens !" 


ISRAEL    IN   BONDAGE.  151 

This  was  well  received.  Moeris  was,  however,  evi 
dently  deep  in  his  cups,  and  soon  became  quarrel 
some  towards  Remeses,  to  whom  he  said,  with  a  sneer — 

"  You  and  I,  prince,  when  the  queen,  my  aunt,  lias 
departed  to  the  shades  of  the  realm  of  Osiris,  will  divide 
Egypt  between  us.  I  will  be  content  with  the  Thebai'd 
country,  and  will  defend  your  borders  on  that  side.  Two 
crowns  are  too  much  for  one  man's  head,  albeit  you  have 
a  large  one  upon  your  shoulders !" 

"Prince  Moeris,"  said  Kemeses,  with  a  look  of  in 
dignation,  "  forget  not  yourself  in  my  mother's  pal- 


» 
aca !" 


Thus  speaking,  the  son  of  Amense  rose  from  the  table, 
and  I  followed  him  to  the  portico  which  overlooked  the 
gardens. 

"That  man,  Sesostris,"  said  he  to  me,  after  a  mo 
ment's  silence,  "  would  not  hesitate  to  conspire  to  the 
whole  throne  and  both  crowns  of  Egypt,  if  he  wrere 
hopeful  of  success." 

"  lie  is  a  man  of  an  evil  eye,"  I  said. 

"  And  heart !  But  he  must  not  be  incensed.  lie  is 
powerful,  and  as  wicked  as  powerful.  In  a  few  days 
he  will  be  on  his  way  to  Upper  Egypt ;  and  in  this 
war  with  Ethiopia,  will  iind  an  outlet  for  his  restless 
ambition." 

"  Suppose  (the  gods  guarding  your  gracious  mother, 
the  queen)  you  should  come  to  the  throne ;  what, 
Hemeses,  would  you  do  with  or  for  your  cousin,  your 
father's  nephew?  "Would  you  suffer  so  dangerous  a  man 
to  hold  the  viceroyalty  of  Upper  JSTile  ?" 

"  I  should  wear  both  crowns,  Sesostris,"  answered  Be- 
meses,  quietly  and  steadily. 


152  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OK 

While  we  were  tlius  conversing,  a  Hebrew  page  came, 
and  said : 

"  My  lord  prince,  Ler  majesty  is  taken  ill,  and  desires 
to  have  you  come  to  her." 

"My  mother  ill!"  he  exclaimed,  with  deadly  pallor 
covering  his  face.  "  Pardon  me,  prince,  I  must  leave 
you  and  go  to  her."  And  in  a  moment  he  hastened  to 
the  wing  of  the  palace  occupied  by  his  mother  and  the 
ladies  of  her  retinue. 

The  queen  had  left  the  table  some  time  before  Prince 
Mceris  began  to  converse  with  me,  excusing  herself  on 
the  plea  of  slight  fatigue  and  indisposition ;  for  she  had 
passed  an  hour  that  day  in  giving  directions  to  the  chief 
architect,  to  whom  was  intrusted  the  erection  of  her 
obelisk,  outside  of  the  gate  of  the  Temple  of  the  Sun. 
Kenifeses  had  been  gone  but  a  few  moments,  when  I  be 
held  Prince  Mceris  borne  across  the  terrace  by  his 
servants  to  his  chariot,  in  a  state  of  helpless  intoxica 
tion. 

The  illness  of  the  queen  was  not  of  an  alarming 
nature,  and  the  next  day  she  appeared  in  the  saloon, 
but  was  very  pale.  The  result  is,  the  court  physicians 
have  advised  her  to  go  to  her  palace  on  the  isle  of 
Hhoda,  in  the  Nile,  as  a  more  salubrious  spot  than  the 
interior  of  a  vast  city.  llemeses  accompanied  her 
thither,  and  the  date  of  my  letter,  my  dear  mother, 
shows  you  that  I  am  also  still  one  of  the  queen's  favored 
household.  Her  health  continues  doubtful,  but  she  is 
much  improved  in  appearance  by  the  change.  Remeses, 
with  beautiful  filial  devotion,  passes  with  her  every  hour 
he  can  spare  from  the  various  pressing  duties  whiil*.  de 
mand  his  personal  attention ;  and  preparations  ioi  tlio 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  153 

Ethiopian  war  call  for  all  his  time  as  general  of  the 
armies. 

Opposite  the  palace  in  which  I  write  to  yon,  the  plain 
between  the  river  and  the  pyramids  is  covered  with  a  vast 
army  assembled  there  within  three  days,  preparatory  to 
their  southern  march ;  while  the  bosom  of  the  Nile,  for  half 
a  league  above  this  palace-covered  island,  is  almost  con 
cealed  by  war-galleys,  which,  to  the  number  of  one  thou 
sand  and  upward,  are  at  anchor  ready  to  ascend  the  river 

From  the  lofty  west  wing  of  the  propylon  of  the  gate 
of  this  island-palace  of  the  Pharaohs,  I  command  not  only 
a  prospect  of  the  fleet,  but  of  the  plain  of  the  pyramids 
outside  of  Memphis.  I  have  but  to  turn  slowly  round 
from  that  elevation,  to  see  On  with  its  three  hundred 
and  sixty  temples — its  gardens  and  towers  ;  and  Raamses, 
the  treasure-city,  to  the  east:  to  the  south,  the  Kile, 
studded  with  barges  and  gay  vessels  having  silken  and 
colored  sails,  filled  with  citizens,  come  to  look  at  the 
fleet  of  war-ships;  the  immense  squadron  itself,  gay  with 
the  variegated  flags  of  its  different  divisions  and  captains ; 
with  towers,  temples,  obelisks,  and  propyla  on  the  two 
shores  terminating  the  perspective :  and  on  the  west, 
Jizeh,  with  its  sphinxes  and  colossi,  its  terraced  gardens 
and  amphitheatre  of  the  gods ;  and  still  farther  off,  Mem 
phis  united  to  the  Nile  by  a  magnificent  aqueduct ;  and 
the  pyramids  of  Cheops  and  of  his  daughter.  Between 
the  city  and  these  mysterious  mausolea,  stands  alone, 
amid  gardens,  the  red  granite  temple  of  Pthah  and 
Athor,  the  two  chief  divinities  of  Memphis :  for  Apis, 
the  sacred  bull  of  Memphis,  is  not  a  divinity,  properly, 
but  only  a  visible  incarnation  of  Osiris,  the  emblem  and 
type  of  the  power  and  strength  of  the  Supreme  Creator. 


154  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

Imagine  this  vast  and  varied  scene  of  architectmal  and 
naval  glory,  interspersed  with  verdure  of  the  brightest 
green,  with  palm,  orange,  and  fig  trees,  garden  linked 
to  garden,  grove  to  grove,  and  villas. half  seen  through 
the  foliage  ;  and  lastly,  the  mighty  river  flowing  with 
shining  waves  amid  the  inimitable  landscape,  and  you 
have  before  you  a  scene  of  grandeur  and  beauty  such 
as  Egypt  alone  can  produce.  Add  the  myriads  of  human 
beings,  the  crowded  galleys,  the  thronged  shores,  the 
eighty  thousand  soldiers  encamped  on  the  west  plain, 
the  army  of  chariots  drawn  up  on  the  east  bank,  and 
farther  up,  opposite  the  aqueduct  of  Pharaoh  Apo- 
phis,  a  battalion  of  twelve  thousand  cavalry  manceuver- 
ing,  and  the  scene  which  I,  an  hour  since,  beheld  from 
the  top  of  the  gateway,  is  before  you. 

Since  I  wrote  the  last  sentence,  I  have  witnessed  a 
naval  review,  with  a  sham  battle.  The  Prince  Moeris,  in 
a  gorgeous  galley  decorated  with  all  the  emblems  of  the 
cities  and  nomes  of  Egypt,  after  displaying  the  skill  of 
his  one  hundred  oarsmen,  and  the  swiftness  of  his  vessel 
in  front  of  the  palace,  before  the  eyes  of  the  queen, 
moved  among  his  ships,  and  gave  orders  for  their  division 
into  lines  of  battle.  The  greater  number  of  these  gal 
leys  had  only  a  single  mast  with  a  long  swallow-winged 
sail ;  and  were  propelled  by  forty  rowers.  But  the 
ships  of  the  captains  were  larger  and  more  imposing. 
All  the  galleys  were  handsomely  painted,  and  the  whole 
fleet  together  made  a  splendid  moving  spectacle,  which 
was  heightened  by  the  thousand  bannerets  fluttering  in 
the  wind,  and  the  ten  thousand  shields  and  spears  gleam 
ing  in  the  sun,  as  they  were  held  in  the  hands  of  the 
soldiers  upon  their  decks. 


ISRAEL    IN   BONDAGE.  155 

When  the  signal  was  given  for  the  two  parties  to 
combat,  the  air  was  filled  by  a  loud  shout,  and  a  hun 
dred  galleys  charged  each  other,  just  as  did  the  battal 
ions  of  chariots  in  the  review  I  have  already  described. 
The  vessels,  set  in  motion  by  the  rowers,  were  driven 
towards  each  other  with  terrific  velocity.  The  Abys 
sinian  soldiers  upon  the  bows,  and  the  bowmen  in  the 
tops,  shot  off  flights  of  arrows,  which  sounded  like  a 
storm  of  wind,  as  they  hurtled  through  the  air.  The 
Libyan  spearmen,  on  the  lofty  poops,  brandished  their 
spears  with  wild  cries  ;  while  the  Nubians,  amidships, 
struck  their  triangular  shields  with  battle-axes  of  iron, 
producing  a  sound  like  crashing  thunders.  The  war 
bugles  and  hollow  drums  beaten  on  board  each  vessel 
increased  the  loud  confusion,  and  added  to  the  terror  of 
the  scene.  The  fall  of  thousands  of  oars,  the  rush  of 
waters  from  the  cleaving  bows,  the  shouts  of  the  cap 
tains,  the  warlike  spirit  and  battle-fierceness  of  the  whole, 
presented  a  spectacle  of  sublimity  unequalled.  Nor  was 
it  without  an  element  of  terror.  Such  was  the  excited 
manner  of  the  simulating  combatants,  I  believed  that 
no  earthly  power  could  prevent  a  real  collision  and 
hand-to-hand  conflict  in  hot  blood,  when,  at  a  signal 
from  the  Prince  Mceris,  the  rowers  of  the  leading  gal 
leys  turned  suddenly,  as  they  came  within  touch  of  each 
other's  sweeps,  and  so,  one  after  another  wheeling  in 
line,  both  divisions  passed  down  the  river,  until  they 
moved  in  parallel  columns.  The  whole  manoeuvre  was 
one  of  the  most  wonderful  exhibitions  of  naval  discipline 
and  generalship.  Ere  the  shouts  of  the  people  on  the 
shores  and  in  the  numerous  pleasure  barges  had  died 
away,  the  two  columns,  at  a  signal  from  the  mast  of  tho 


156 

ship  of  their  admiral,  came  side  by  side,  and  a  battle 
between  the  soldiers  on  opposite  decks  commenced — one 
party  attempting  to  board,  the  other  repelling  them. 
Not  less  than  six  thousand  combatants  were  engaged  at 
once,  above  the  heads  of  the  banks  of  rowers.  The 
clash  of  swords  and  spears  and  battle-axes,  and  other 
offensive  and  defensive  weapons,  produced  a  noise  so 
terrible  and  grand  that  I  believe  there  is  no  other  sound 
on  earth,  as  wrell  calculated  to  quicken  the  pulse  and 
bring  out  all  the  enthusiasm  of  the  soul  of  a  man.  I  can 
compare  these  metallic  and  iron  tones,  only  to  what  might 
be  the  sound  of  the  brazen  voice  of  Mars  himself  rolling 
his  war-cry  along  the  battle-ranks  of  his  foes.  Suddenly 
the  iron  din  of  war  ceased,  and  separating,  one  of  the 
divisions  commenced  a  flight,  and  the  other  a  pursuit. 
This  scene  was  the  most  exciting  of  all.  The  chase  was 
in  a  direction  down  the  east  side  of  the  island,  opposite 
the  queen's  window ;  for  all  these  exhibitions  were 
given  in  her  honor,  and,  though  by  no  means  well,  she 
remained  upon  the  terrace  during  the  whole;  and  it 
was,  perhaps,  the  consciousness  of  their  monarch's  eye 
being  upon  them,  that  caused  these  demi-barbaric  sol 
diers,  gathered  from  all  the  provinces  and  tributary 
countries  of  Egypt,  to  surpass  themselves,  being  ready 
even,  at  her  nod,  to  convert  the  mock  battle  into  a  real 
one. 

The  two  fleets,  flying  and  pursuing,  moved  past  the 
island  like  a  sirocco.  Their  lion  or  eagle-headed  prows 
tossed  high  in  the  air  clouds  of  white  spray.  The  roar 
of  the  waters  as  the  vessels  ploughed  through  them-,  the 
dash  of  the  banks  of  oars,  the  cries  of  pursuit,  the  whiz 
zing  and  shrieks  of  arrows  cleaving  the  air,  the  shouts  of 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  Ifv7 

the  contending  thousands,  and  the  velocity  with  which 
they  moved,  brought  color  to  the  queen's  cheek,  and  the 
light  of  interest  to  her  eyes.  It  was  now  an  actual  and 
real  trial  for  mastery  in  speed ;  and  the  contest  partook 
of  all  the  realities  of  a  war-chase.  The  two  divisions, 
rounding  the  lower  end  of  the  island,  were  hidden  by 
the  Temple  of  Isis,  which  crowns  it,  but  soon  reappeared 
on  the  west  arm  of  the  river,  ascending.  When  they 
came  opposite  to  the  queen,  having  passed  entirely 
round  the  island,  they  resumed  their  former  line,  two  or 
three  with  broken  banks  of  oars,  and  shattered  poops  or 
prows  from  collision. 

Prince  Moeris  came  on  shore  to  receive  the  compli 
ments  of  the  queen,  and  dined  with  us.  Remeses  was 
not  present,  being  with  the  cohorts  of  cavalry ;  for  he  is 
visiting  and  inspecting  every  arm  of  the  service,  as  it  is 
intended  this  shall  be  the  most  formidable  host  that  has 
ever  been  sent  into  Ethiopia. 

Adieu,  dearest  mother,  and  believe  me 

Your  truly  devoted  son, 

SESOSTKIS. 


15S  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,   OR 


LJETTEK  x. 

ISLAND  PALACE  OF  KHODA. 
MY  DEAREST  MOTHER: 

IT  is  with  heartfelt  pleasure  I  assure  you  of  the 
recovery  of  the  queen.  The  heart  of  the  noble  and  de 
voted  Remeses  is  lightened  of  a  heavy  weight  of  solici 
tude.  Smiles  once  more  revisit  his  features,  and  cheer 
fulness  replaces  his  late  depression. 

"  Sesostris,"  said  he  to  me  this  morning,  as  we  wrere 
returning  in  his  galley  from  a  visit  to  the  pyramids 
and  vast  city  of  tombs  that  stretch  between  Memphis 
and  the  Libyan  hills,  "  if  my  excellent  and  dear  mother 
had  died,  I  should  have  been  made  one  of  the  most  un 
happy  of  men.  I  shall  to-morrow,  in  testimony  of  my 
gratitude,  offer  in  the  Temple  of  Osiris  a  libation  and  in 
cense  to  the  God  of  Health  and  Life,  wherever  in  his 
illimitable  universe  such  a  Being  may  dwell." 

"  Then  you  would'  not,  my  dear  Remeses,  offer  it  to 
Osiris  himself?"  I  said. 

"  You  have  heard,  my  friend,"  he  replied,  "  my  views 
of  these  mysteries  of  faith :  that  I  look,  through  all  ma 
terial  and  vicarious  representatives,  onward  and  upward 
to  the  Infinite  and  Supreme  Essence  of  Life — the  Gen 
erator,  Upholder,  and  Guide  of  the  worlds  and  all  that 
dwell  upon  them.  From  a  child  I  have  never  entered, 


ISRAEL    IN    BONDAGE.  159 

as  my  dear  mother  does,  into  the  heart  and  spirit  of  our 
worship.  There  is  something  within  me  which  tells  me 
that  we  consist  of  a  twofold  being — a  soul  within  a  body. 
The  soul  must  have  had  a  Soul  as  its  creator ;  therefore, 
O  Sesostris,  do  I  believe  in  a  Supreme  Soul  of  the  uni- ' 
verse — the  Fountain  of  all  souls ;  a  Being  of  thought, 
invisibility,  intelligence,  and  reason,  each  supreme  and 
eternal ;  for  I  can  conceive  no  creator  of  a  SOUL,  nor  end 
of  its  existence^  _Before  all  things  that  actually  exist, 
and  before  all  beings,  there  is  One  Being  whom  I  would 
designate,  for  want  of  another  term,  God  of  gods,  prior 
follie  "first  god  or  king  of  earth,  remaining  unmoved  and 
unapproachable  in  the  singleness  of  His  own  unity.  He 
is  greater  than,  as  He  was  prior  to,  all  material  things,  of 
which  He  is  the  sole  fountain ;  and  He  is  also  the  foun 
dation  of  things  conceived  by  the  intellect,  and  from  His 
intellect  spring  the  spirits  of  the  gods  and  the  souls  of 
men." 

"Then,"  said  I  to  the  prince,  to  whom  I  had  listened 
with  surprise  and  pleasure — for,  mother,  similar  to  these 
are  the  deep  mysteries  taught  by  our  most  sacred  priests 
of  lo,  into  which  I  was  initiated  when  I  became  twenty- 
five  years  of  age — "  then  you  believe  that  God  is  Intellect 
conceiving  itself,  and  that  the  creation  of  man  was  but 
the  beginning  of  an  infinite  series  of  resistless  concep 
tions  of  Himself?" 

"  ]S"ot  resistless,  but  voluntary.  Finding  Himself  exist 
ing,  He  multiplied  Himself,  for  His  own  glory  and  de 
light  primarily ;  and  secondly,  for  the  happiness  of  the 
offspring  of  His  Intellect." 

"  We  are  then  His  offspring,  that  is,  our  souls  ?" 

"  Without  doubt,  if  my  theories  be  founded  in  truth," 


160  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

lie  answered  contemplatively.  We  were  then  in  mid-river, 
and  the  forty-foil*  rowers  of  our  gilded  barge  were  slowly 
dipping  their  brazen-mounted  oars  into  the  glassy  water, 
while  with  gentle  motion  we  were  borne  towards  the 
isle  of  palaces  and  terraces.  Our  heads  were  shaded  from 
the  sun  by  a  silken  pavilion  stretched  above  the  stern 
of  the  galley,  under  which  we  reclined  upon  sumptuous 
cushions  as  we  conversed.  Kemeses,  however,  is  by  no 
means  a  voluntary  seeker  of  luxurious  ease ;  but  in 
Egypt,  where  splendor  and  voluptuous  furniture  every 
where  invite  to  indulgence,  one  must  either  deprive  him 
self  of  all  comforts,  for  the  sake  of  enduring  hardship,  or 
yield  unchallenging  to  the  countless  seductive  forms  of 
couches,  lounges,  chairs,  and  sofas,  which  everywhere, 
on  the  galleys  and  in  houses,  offer  themselves  to  his 
use. 

The  air  was  balmy  and  soft,  and  fanned  our  faces ; 
while  the  beautiful  shores,  lined  wiih  villas  of  the  chief 
men  of  the  court,  afforded  a  grateful  picture  to  the 
eye.  Our  rowers  let  their  sweeps  fall  and  rise  to  the 
low  and  harmonious  time  of  a  river  chant,  which,  while 
it  inspired  conversation  between  the  prince  and  myself, 
did  not  disturb,  but  rather  veiled  our  subdued  voices. 

"  Do  you  believe  there  are  lesser  gods  ?"  I  asked. 

"  Do  you  mean,  Sesostris,  beings  higher  in  rank  than 
men,  and  so  created,  to  whom  the  Supreme  Intellect  of 
the  Universe  delegates  a  part  of  His  authority  and  power 
over  man  and  nature  ?  Such,  in  its  purity,  is  our  Egyp 
tian  idea  of  gods." 

"  Such  is  not  the  Phoenician,"  I  answered,  hesitating 
ly  ;  for  I  felt  how  far  in  advance  of  the  hero  demigods 
of  our  Assyrio-Median  mythology  was  the  Egyptian  fcheo- 


ISRAEL    IN   BONDAGE.  101 

logical  con<^D_tion_of  a  god ,  while  the  still  sublimei 
i'dea"  held  by  Remeses,  that  they  are  celestial  princes 
under  the  Supreme  Prince,  created  as  his  servants,  yet 
so  far  above  men  as  to  be  as  gods  to  us,  took  fast  hold  of 
my  imagination,  and  commended  itself  to  my  intellect. 

"  What,  my  clear  Sesostris,  is  the  mythology  of  your 
country  ?"  he  asked,  with  a  look  of  deep  interest.  "  I 
have  read  some  of  your  sacred  books,  and  from  them  I 
perceive  we  obtain  our  myths  of  Isis,  Mars,  Hercules, 
Yulcan,  and  even  Yenus,  who  is  your  Astarte  and  our 
Athor.  We  owe  much  of  our  religion  and  learning  to 
you  Tyrians,  my  Sesostris." 

"The  recipient  has  become  mightier  than  the  giver," 
I  replied.  "  Without  doubt  you  have  received  from  us 
the  great  invention  of  the  phonetic  alphabet,  which  your 
scholars  are  already  making  use  of,  though  I  learn  the 
priests  oppose  it  as  an  invasion  upon  the  sacred  writing 
of  the  hieroglyphic  representations.  I  have  seen  here 
many  rolls  of  papyrus  written  in  our  Phoenician  letter, 
in  the  vernacular  Koptic  words,  and  executed  with  taste 
and  beauty." 

"  It  is  not  pictorial,  and  therefore  the  priests,  who 
are  all  artists  and  lovers  of  colors,  reject  it.  It  will  be 
slowly  introduced.  Upon  obelisks  and  tombs  the  bril 
liant  and  varied  hieroglyphic  writing  will  continue,  even 
though  the  records  and  rolls  may  by  and  by  be  written 
with  the  Tyrian  alphabet.  You  have  seen  my  Chaldaic 
letter,  which  I  have  formed  partly  on  the  model  of  your 
great  Kadmus,  and  partly  on  the  sacred  characters,  re 
ducing  forms  of  things  to  outlines  and  strokes  of  the 
stylus.  This  I  invented,  hoping  to  introduce  it  into 
Egypt,  if  the  Tyrian  letter  is  opposed  by  our  priests,  on 


162  THE    PILLAR   OF    FIRE,    OR 

the  score  of  being  foreign  cabalistic  signs ;  for  such  do  they 
see  fit  to  regard  them,  and  speak  of  them.  But,  my  Sesos- 
tris,  let  me  lean:  }f  you  something  of  your  mythology." 

I  was  about  to  reply,  when  my  attention  was  attracted 
to  a  "procession  of  the  dead"  crossing  the  river  just 
above  us,  the  body  being  placed  in  a  gorgeous  car 
which  stood  in  a  richly  painted  and  gilded  baris,  with  a, 
curved  prow  carved  with  the  head  of  Osiris.  It  was 
tied  to  a  barge,  with  twenty  rowers,  -which  moved  to 
a  slow  and  solemn  strain  of  music  that  came  wildly 
floating  across  the  waters  to  our  ears,  mingled  with  the 
wails  of  mourners  who  crowded  the  deck  of  the  galley ; 
chiefly  women  with  long  dishevelled  hair  and  naked 
breasts,  which  they  beat  frantically  at  times,  with  pier 
cing  cries.  Through  a  small  window  in  the  ark  or  car  I 
could  see  the  painted  visage  upon  the  head  of  the  mum 
my  case. 

It  soon  landed,  and  we  resumed  our  conversation. 

"You  are  aware,  O  prince,"  I  said,  turning  to  him, 
"  that  Phoenicia  was  settled  among  the  first  of  the  na 
tions,  after  Typhon  sent  the  flood  of  waters  to  destroy 
Osiris  upon  earth.  Of  course  you  Egyptians  believe  in 
the  universal  inundation  of  the  earth?" 

"  The  tradition  is  well-founded,"  he  answered.  '  "  We 
believe  that  mighty  nations  existed  aforetime,  beyond 
the  history  of  any  kingdom,  and  that  for  their  evils  the 
Divine  Creator  of  men  brought  upon  them  as  punish 
ment  a  mighty  unknown  sea,  which  drowned  the  world: 
that  Menes,  a  great  and  good  king,  also  ealled/Jfoe- 
Menes,  was  spared  by  the  gods,  he  with  all  his  family 
being  saved  in  a  ship  of  the  old  world,  which  sailed  to 
the  mountains  of  Arabia  Deserta,  where,  guided  by  a 


ISRAEL    IN    BONDAGE.  1(53 

dove,  they  landed  and  sacrificed  to  the  gods.  This 
Menes,  descending  from  the  mountain,  founded  Egypt, 
first  building  This,  or  Thebis,  and  then  Memphth's,  di 
viding  Egypt  into  the  Thinite  and  Mernphite  provinces; 
and  so  from_E^vj3t  all  the  world  was  repcopied. 

"  Such  is  our  tradition,  O  Remeses,"  I  said,  smilinr, 
"  only  instead  of  a  mountain  in  Arabia,  it  was  Libanus 
in  Syria,  to  which  his  galley  was  guided,  not  by  a  dove, 
but  by  a  raven ;  and  that  his  name  was  Amrnon,  or 
Hainmun  ;  and  that  the  first  city  built  was  Sidon_,  and 
the  next  the  city  of  the  Island  of  Tyre."- 

Hemeses  returned  my  smile  and  said,  "No  doubt  there 
was  a  disposition  in  all  our  forefathers  to  give  the  honor 
of  being  the  oldest  nation  to  their  own.  Ham-mun  is 
also  a  person  in  our  Egyptian  tradition,  but  is  called 
the  son  of  Menes ;  who,  rebelling  against  his  father, 
was  driven  from  This  or  Thebis  into  Africa,  where  he 
founded  Libya,  and  erected  to  himself,  as  a  god,  the  an 
cient  temple  and  worship  of  Ammon.  From  him  come 
the  Nubians  and  Ethiopians." 

"  Then  I  will  claim  no  traditionary  alliance  with  him," 
I  answered  good-humoredly.  "  Our  Ammon  was  called, 
also  Hercules,  and  the  first  temple  of  the  earth  was  built 
to  him  on  the  rocky  isle  of  ancient  Tyre.  Then  Belus,  the 
hero  and  warrior-god,  and  founder  of  Babylon,  became 
the  patron  of  Tyre  ;  and  a  noble  temple  w^as  also  erected 
to  Nimrod,  who  slew  the  wild  beasts  that  swarmed  in 
ancient  Syria,  and  who  became  the  protector  of  shepherds 
and  agriculture.  Thus  came  our  first  gods,  being  men 
deified  ;  while  yours  are  but  attributes,  or  created  celes 
tial  powers,  high  above  men ;  or  animated  forms  repre 
senting  the  Deity  incarnate  and  comprehensible  to  the 


J64  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE.    OR 

senses.  Baalbec  was  a  city  built  to  Bel  or  Belus,  wrho, 
like  your  Osiris,  is  the  symbol  of  the  sun,  which,  of 
burnished  gold,  he  displayed  upon  his  shield  in  battle. 
In  Phoenicia  we  call  him  'the  Lord  of  the  Sun,'  and  the 
'Sun-God.'  We  pay  him  divine  honors  by  sacrifices, 
libations,  and  offerings  of  incense.  And  this  recalls  a  dis 
covery  I  recently  made  in  On,  that  the  true  meaning  of 
Re  and  of  On  is  not  '  the  City  of  the  Sun,'  but  the  '  Lord 
of  the  Sun's'  city  ;  that  is,  the  city  of  Osiris,  who  is  the 
lord  of  the  sun.  This  meaning  of  the  name  at  once  re 
moves  from  On  the  impression  which  was  at  first  made 
upon  my  mind,  that  you,  and  the  queen,  and  your  whole 
court,  worshipped  the  sun  as  the  Persic  and  Parthian 
nations  do  ;  whereas  it  is  Osiris,  the  Lord  of  the  Sun,  that 
is  the  Supreme  god,  generator,  producer,  and  creator  of 
the  sun  and  all  things  that  are.  JSTo  sooner  had  I  made 
this  discovery,  which  1  did  by  conversing  with  the  high- 
priest  of  On,  than  I  perceived  that  whatsoever  grossness 
may  be  found  in  the  religion  of  the  lower  castes  of  the 
people,  who  seldom  see  beyond  the  symbol,  the  theology 
of  the  wise  and  great  is  free  from  idolatry." 

"I  am  glad  you  justify  us  in  this  matter,  dear  Sesos- 
tris,"  answered  the  prince.  "  We  are  not  idolaters  like 
the  Persian  and  Barbara  kings.  fOur  sacred  books  teach 
an  intellectual  and  spiritual  theology.  But,  as  I  have 
before  said  to  you,  the  Invisible  is  so  veiled  from  the 
people,  by  the  visible  forms  under  which  he  is  offered  to 
them  by  the  priesthood,  that  while  we  adore  the  God  of 
power  and  strength  in  Apis,  they  worship  the  bull  him 
self:  while  we  in  the  form  of  Horus,  with  his  urgeus  and 
disk,  adore  Him  who  made  him  a  benefactor  to  men  and 
a  pursuer  of  evil,  they  bow  down  to  the  hawk-headed 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  165 

statue  of  porphyry  and  worship  the  sculptured  colossus 
oflstone.  13ut  I  interrupt  you.  Proceed,  if  you  please, 
with  the  account  of  the  origin  of  your  country's  religion." 

"  I  have  riot  much  more  to  add  of  interest,"  I  answered, 
"  save  of  Adonis  and  Astarte." 

"  Are  not  these  your  Osiris  and  Isis  ?"  asked  the  prince 
readily. 

"  I  will  first  explain,"  said  I,  not  immediately  answer 
ing  his  question,  "  what  we  in  Phoenicia  think  of  Isis. 
The  priests  teach  that  the  identity  of  the  goddess  lo,  who 
is  worshipped  with  rites  unusually  imposing  at  Byblos, 
is  one  with  Isis." 

"What  is  your  opinion,  Sesostris?" 

"  There  is,"  I  answered,  "  a  close  resemblance  be- 
cweeri  the  rites  which  relate  to  the  death  and  revival  of 
Adonis  at  Byblos,  and  of  your  divinity  Osiris  in  Egypt. 
Indeed  the  priests  at  Byblos  claim  to  have  the  sepulchre 
of  Osiris  among  them,  and  maintain  that  all  the  rites 
which  are  commonly  referred  to  Adonis  properly  relate 
to  Osiris." 

Q"  Then  Egypt  derives  Osiris  from  Phoenicia  ?"  re 
marked  Remeses,  with  a  slight  movement  of  the  brows, 
and  a  smile. 

"  Without  doubt,"  I  replied.  "  In  Tyre  we  call  Egypt 
the  daughter  of  Phoenicia." 

"The  daughter  has  out-grown  the  mother,  dear  Sesos 


tris.  We  are  proud  of  our  parentage.  We  bow  to 
Phoenicia  as  the  mistress  of  letters  and  queen  of  the 
merchants  of  the  earth.  But  what  think  the  priests  ol 
Baalbec  of  Osiris  and  Isis?" 

"  It  is  the  tradition  of  those  haughty  priests  that  they 
are  distinct  persons,"  I  replied.     "  The  ceremonies  and 


166  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

rites  with  which  they  worship  these  deities  are  truly 
magnificent,  and  are  invested  with  every  form  of  the 
beautiful  and  gorgeous.  Ours,  as  I  have  said,  in  some 
points  resemble  your  Egyptian  rites  in  honoring  Osiris 
and  Isis  ;  butjvvhile_you_Egyptians,  Remeses,  adore  only 
an  abstract  attribute  of  the  deity,  we  adore  the  hero 
and  the  heroic  woman — Adonis  and  Astarte.  We  rise 
not  beyond  them.  We  elevate  them  to  the  heavens  and 
to  the  moon,  and  call  them  our  gods.  Truly,  in  the 
presence  of  the  sublimer,  purer  myth  which  is  the  ele 
ment  of  your  faith,  O  Eemeses,  I  feel  that  I  am  not  far 
above  the  Barbara  kings  of  Southern  Africa,  who  deify 
each  his  predecessor.  The  priests  of  Isis,  when  they 
were  in  Phoenicia,  attempted  to  elevate  our  worship ; 
but  we  are  still  idolaters,  that  is,  mere  men-worshippers. 
Or,  where  we  do  not  pay  them  divine  honors,  we  offer 
them  to  the  sun,  juid  moon,  and  stars.  I  must  be 
initiated,  O  Eeraeses,  into  the  profounder  intellectual 
mysteries  of  your  spiritual  myth,  now  that  I  am  in 
Egypt." 

"You  shall  have  .your  wish  gratified.  The  high 
priest  of  On  shall  receive  orders  to  open  to  you  (what 
is  closed  to  all  strangers)  the  sacred  and  mystic  rites  of 
our  faith." 

"I  have  alluded  to  the  mysteries  of  the  temple  at 
Tyre,"  I  added.  "  Initiated  thereinto,  I  was  taught  that 
religion  had  a  higher  object  than  human  heroes,  and 
that  in  Astarte  is  worshipped  the  daughter  of  Heaven 
and  Light,  who  is  LIFE,  and  that  Adonis,  her  son  by  the 
Earth,  signifies  Truth.  Thus  from  heaven  spring  Light, 
Life,  and  Truth.  These  three,  say  the  mystic  books 
which  I  studied,  constitute  .the  Trinity  of  God,  who  con- 


ISRAEL    IN   BONDAGE.  L67 

fVv^- 

sJsts  and  subsists  only  in  tin's  undivided  Trinity  as  a 
unit ;  not  Light  alone,  not  Life  alone,  nor  Truth  alone  ; 
but  One  in  Three.  That  these  three  are  not  three 
deities,  just  as  in  geometry  the  three  sides  and  three 
angles  are  not  three  triangles,  but  one  triangle.  That  ir 
order  to  bring  this  mystery  to  a  level  with  the  minds  ol 
men,  light  was  symbolized  by  the  sun,  life  by  Astarte, 
truth  by  Adonis.  In  the  temple  of  Bel-Pheor,  in  Ccele- 
Syria,  the  sun  itself  is  worshipped  as  light,  life,  and  truth 
in  one ;  his  rays  representing  light,  his  heat  life,  his 
material  disk  or  body  truth." 

"This  is  interesting  to  me,  Sesostris,"  said  Remeses. 
"It  explains  to  me  what  I  did  not  before  understand, 
why  the  Syrians  worship  the^/sun.  To  them  it  is  the 
majestic  symbol  of  the  trinity  of  deity.  But  I  fear  that 
|  in  Egypt  he  is  worshipped  as  an  idol ;  for  he,  doubtless, 
is  worshipped  by  many,  and  in  many  cities  are  temples 
to  him.  But  this  material  worship,  which  separates  the 
symbol  from  the  truth  behind  it,  was  introduced  by  the 
Palestinian  dynasty,  and  it  is  almost  the  only  trace  it 
has  left  in  Egypt  of  its  presence.  The  worship  of  Osiris, 
rightly  understood,  is  the  worship  of  the  deity,  as  re 
vealed  in  our  sacred  books.  But  the  mystery  of  his 
trinity  is  unknown  to  our  theology.  Have  you  many 
temples  of  the  sun  in  Tyre?" 

"  One  only,"  was  my  answer,  "  but  worthy,  if  I  may 
so  say,  from  its  splendor,  to  stand  in  your  city  of  '  the 
Lord  of  the  Sun,'  as  I  must  call  it." 

"  Is  there  not  a  city  of  your  kingdom  called  Baal- 
phegor,  in  which  is  a  famous  sun-temple?" 

t;  You  mean  Baalbec,  the  same  words,  only  changed 
slightly.  This  city  deserves  its  great  fame,  so  grand  are 


168  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

its  fanes,  so  noble  its  palaces,  so  imposing  the  worship  of 
the  snn  before  its  altars,  so  gorgeous  the  interiors  of  its 
temples,  so  rich  the  apparel  of  its  priests,  so  sublime  its 
choral  worship.  It  is  in  Syrio-Euphrates,  and  is  so  shaded 
by  palms  that  it  has  the  aspect,  in  approaching  it  across 
the  desert,  of  being  an  oasis  filled  with  temples." 

"  Is  not  Phoenicia  a  lovely  land,  Sesostris  2"  he  asked, 
at  the  same  time  returning  the  salutation  of  the  admiral, 
Pathromenes,  who  passed  in  his  war-galley,  on  his  way 
to  join  the  Prince  Moeris,  whose  fleet  sails  to-morrow  on 
its  expedition.  I  was  glad,  also,  to  behold  again  my  cour 
teous  friend  of  the  Pelusian  coast,  and  cordially  received 
and  answered  his  polite  and  pleased  recognition  of  my 
person. 

"  It  is  indeed  a  lovely  land,  with  its  verdant  plains, 
majestic  mountains  clothed  with  cedar,  and  beautiful 
but  narrow  rivers.  It  is  covered  with  fair  cities  from 
the  peninsula  of  Tyre  to  the  further  limits  of  Ccele-Syria, 
and  is  a  rich  and  lovely  kingdom,  populous  and  happy. 
Its  two  great  cities,  Tyre  and  Sidon,  are  called  the  eyes 
of  the  world." 

"  I  have  so  heard,"  he  answered,  "  and  when  this  Ethio 
pian  war  ends,  and  I  find  time  to  be  absent,  I  hope  to 
cross  the  sea  to  your  kingdom  and  se_e  '  the  mother  of 
Egypt,'  as  she  also  calls  herself;  'the  merchant  of  the 
seas,'  whose  galleys  have  discovered  in  unknown  oceans, 
beyond  the  Pillars  of  the  West,  the  isles  of  the  blessed." 

"  So  report  our  bold  and  venturous  mariners,"  I  an 
swered. 

"We  who  stay  at  home,  know  not,  Sesostris,  what 
marvels  lie  beyond  the  seas  at  the  extremity  of  the  plane 
of  the  earth's  vast  area.  It  is  possible  that  islands  and 


ISRAEL    IN   BONDAGE.  169 

Ian -3  of  wonderful  beauty  may  exist  where  the  sun 
wheels  over  the  West  to  return  to  his  rising  in  the  Ori 
ent  ;  and  if  we  credit  mariners  who  follow  the  shores 
of  the  Arabian  and  Indian  seas,  there  are  fair  shores 
from  whence  come  off  to  them  breezes  laden  with  fra 
grance  of  unknown  flowers,  while  birds  of  rare  melody 
fill  the  air  with  their  songs  by  day ;  but  at  night  the 
odorant  forests  echo  with  the  dread  roar  of  fierce 
monsters,  that  guard  the  shores  from  the  invasion  of 
man  I" 

"  I  have  sailed  along  those  shores,  if  I  may  be  so  bold 
as  to  speak  in  such  a  presence,  my  lord  prince,"  inter 
rupted  the  captain  of  the  galley,  who  had  stood  by  listen 
ing  to  our  discourse. 

"  Say  on,  Bathos,"  answered  the  prince  courteously. 
"  What  have  you  to  tell  of  marvels  on  foreign  seas?" 

"  The  lands  at  the  earth's  end,  your  excellency,  are 
not  like  ours  of  Egypt.  I  have  seen  isles  where  the 
men  are  like  larger  monkeys,  and  have  a  language  no 
one  understands,  and  build  their  houses  in  the  trees. 
Evil  demons  I  doubt  not,  or  else  souls  sent  back  to  earth 
from  Amenthe,  by  Osiris,  to  atone  for  crimes  in  mon 
strous  forms,  neither  human  nor  beast !" 

"  T  have  heard  of  these  creatures,"  said  I.  "  How  far 
hast  thou  sailed,  O  Bathos?" 

"  To  the  very  edge  of  the  world,  my  lord  of  Tyre,"  he 
answered  quietly.  "  I  was  in  a  ship  going  to  Farther 
Ind.  In  sailing  round  the  end  of  the  earth  we  lost  the 
shore  in  a  dark  storm ;  and  when  day  came  we  saw  only 
sky  and  water.  All  were  in  consternation  to  be  thus 
between  heaven  and  sea,  and  no  land  to  guide  our  course. 
To  add  to  our  terror,  I  perceived  that  we  were  borno 

8 


170  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

swiftly  upon  an.  ocean-current  eastward.  It  increased 
in  velocity,  and  I  soon  saw  that  we  must  be  approach 
ing  the  verge  of  the  vast  and  horrid  gnlf,  over  which 
the  full  ocean  plunges,  a  thousand  leagues  in  breadth, 
prone  into  chaos  and  the  regions  of  the  lost  spirits  of  the 
unburied  souls  of  men  !  But  by  the  interposition  of  the 
god  of  winds,  to  whom  I  vowed  a  libation  and  a  bale  of 
the  richest  spices  of  Bengal,  a  great  storm  swept  over 
the  sea  against  us,  and  before  it  we  fled  as  with  wings, 
until  we  came  to  a  great  island,  under  the  shelter  of 
which  w^e  anchored,  rejoicing  in  our  safety." 

"  Verily,  brave  Rathos,  thou  wert  in  a  great  peril,"  I 
said.  "Thinkest  thou  it  was  at  the  world's  end?" 

"  So  said  the  king  of  the  island,  and  he  congratulated 
us  on  our  escape  ;  saying  that  few  ship^,  when  once 
upon  that  downward  tide,  ever  returned  again  to  the  top 
of  the  earth." 

"  Thinkest  thou  the  earth  is  square,  Rathos,  from  what 
voyages  thou  hast  made?"  I  asked  of  the  gray -haired 
captain,  whose  silvery  locks  were  braided  around  his 
head,  and  covered  by  a  green  embroidered  bonnet,  with 
a  fringed  cape  falling  to  his  neck. 

"Or  a  triangle,  my  lord  prince;  but  some  saj  four 
square,  with  a  burning  mountain  at  each  angle." 

"Which  is  thine  own  opinion,  Rathos?"  asked  the 
prince,  who  had  been  listening  to  our  conversation. 

"That  it  is  irregular  and  jagged,  my  lord  of  Egypt, 
in  shape  not  unlike  this  fair  Isle  of  Rhoda,  at  which  we 
are  about  to  land." 

",And  what  thinkest  thou,  Bathos,  is  its  foundation  ?" 
continued  the  prince. 

"The  Indian  wise  men  say  it  is  held  up  on  the  back  of  a 


ISKAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  171 

huge  tortoise  ;  and  our  priests  of  Egypt  that  it  floats  in  a 
vast  ocean ;  while  in  Jaffa  they  teach  that  it  floats  on  a 
boundless  sea  of  fire.  I  know  not,  my  lord  prince.  1 
leave  knowledge  of  such  wisdom  to  the  great  philoso 
phers  ;  and  for  my  part  am  content  to  live  upon  our  fair 
earth  as  long  as  the  gods  will,  be  it  fire,  or  tortoise,  or 
even  though  it  stand  on  nothing,  as  the  people  in  Persia 
hold  that  it  does.  But  we  are  at  the  terrace-steps,  my 
lord  of  Memphis !" 

Here  he  bowed  low,  holding  his  hand  to  his  heart, 
and  left  us  to  superintend  the  landing  of  the  galley,  at 
the  porphyry  staircase  of  the  propylseum  of  the  palace. 

"  Sesostris,"  said  the  prince  to  me,  "  has  the  jdea,.oc- 
curred  to  you  that  this  world  may  be  a  glob e^su spend ed 
in  subtle  ether,  and  in  diurnal  revolution  around  the 
fixed  sun  ?" 

"Never,  Eemeses !"  I  cried,  with  a  look  of  amaze 
ment  at  this  bold  and  original  thought.  "  It  is  inipossi 
ble  it  should  be  so  !" 

"  Nothing  is  impossible  with  the  Author  of  creation !'' 
said  Remeses,  with  great  solemnity.  And,  then,  after 
an  instant's  pause,  he  added  pleasantly — "Qnjwhat  does 
the  sea  of  fire  or  the  tortoise  rest,  my  dear  prince? 
Which  theory  is  the  most  difficult  to  receive  ?  But  I 
have  given  astrology  considerable  attention,  and  if  you 
will  examine  with  me  some  observations  and  calcula 
tions  that  I  have  made,  I  think  you  will  be  with  me  in 
my  novel  opinion,  that  this  earth  may  prove  to  be  a 
/..sphere  and  in  orbitual  motion,  with  its  seven  planets*, 
about  the  sun;  its  annual  progress  in  its  circuit  giv 
ing  us  seasons,  its  diurnal  motion  night  and  day  !  But 
I  see  you  stand  perplexed  and  amazed.  By  and  by 


172  THE  PILLAR  OF  FIRE,  OR 

you  shall  be  initiated  into  the  mysteries  of  my  studies. 
Let  us  land !" 

Farewell,  dear  mother.  The  great  length  of  this  let 
ter  renders  it  necessary  that  I  should  close  it  abruptly, 
but  believe  me  ever 

Your  dutiful  son, 

SESOSTRIS. 


ISRAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  173 


LETTEE    XI. 

PALACE  OF  RHGDA,  ON  THE 


MY  BELOVED  MOTIIEK: 

IN  my  last  letter  I  narrated  a  conversation  be 
tween  Prince  Remeses  and  myself,  upon  the  myths  of 
Egypt  and  Phoenicia,  and  other  subjects,  while  being 
borne  in  his  galley  from  the  Memphis  bank  of  the  river 
down  to  the  Island  of  Ehoda.  1  have  already  described 
this  beautiful  isle,  and  spoken  of  it  as  the  favorite  resi 
dence  of  the  queen.  It  is  situated  nearly  midway 
between  her  two  chief  cities,  On  and  Memphis,  both  of 
which  —  one  on  the  west  and  the  other  on  the  east  —  are 
in  sight  from  the  top  of  the  central  pylon  of  her  palace, 
that  divides  the  "  court  of  fountains  and  statues"  from 
her  gardens. 

Also  from  this  point  the  queen  commands,  at  one 
view,  the  noble  spectacle  of  her  navy  anchored  in  the 
river,  and  her  armies  encamped,  the  one  on  the  plain  of 
Memphis,  and  the  other  upon  that  of  Raamses. 

I  wrote  you  a  letter  clay  before  yesterday,  my  dear 
mother,  after  my  return  from  a  very  interesting  visit  to 
the  plain  of  Memphis,  whither  the  prince  went  in  his 
state  barge  to  review  the  80,000  soldiers  encamped 
there.  I  will  devote  this  letter  to  an  account  of  a 


174:  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

•second  visit,  and  a  description  of  the  scenes  I  witnessed, 
and  a  narration  of  the  events  which  transpired. 

Early  this  morning,  when  the  queen  and  Remeses 
and  I  were  about  to  be  seated  at  our  repast ;  and,  as  the 
pious  custom  of  the  Egyptians  of  all  ranks  is,  Remeses 
having  just  asked  the  blessing  of  the  gods  before  par 
taking,  lo !  Prince  Moeris,  lord  of  the  Thebai'd,  came  in 
unannounced,  accompanied  by  his  favorite  lion,  which 
always  follows  his  steps  or  stalks  by  his  side,  and  said, 
with  bluntness  unsuited  to  the  presence — 

"Your  majesty,  I  have  come  to  say  to  you  that  I  am 
ready  to  weigh  anchor  and  commence  my  voyage  to  the 
Cataracts  !  I  await  your  orders  and  pleasure  !" 

Thus  speaking,  he  stood  with  his  head-admiral  and 
half  a  dozen  of  his  chief  officers  behind  him  in  the 
entrance,  his  sword  at  his  side,  and  his  gold  helm  writh 
its  nodding  plumes  towering  proudly.  His  whole  ap 
pearance  was  singularly  splendid  and  martial,  and  he 
seemed  to  be  conscious  of  the  effect  the  striking  ele 
gance  and  brilliancy  of  his  costume  produced  upon  me  ; 
for,  though  brave  as  Osirtasen  the  Conqueror,  he  is  as 
vain  as  ever  was  the  fair  Princess  JSTitocris. 

Queen  Amense,  who  enjoined  the  strictest  etiquette 
in  her  court,  frowned  at  this  discourteous  intrusion  ;  for 
the  nobles  of  Lower  Egypt  are  remarkable  by  the  grace 
and  refinement  of  their  manners,  and  the  court  of  the 
Pharaohs  has  for  ages  been  distinguished  for  the  high 
tone  of  its  polite  observances.  From  portico  to  saloon' 
from  saloon  to  ante-room,  from  ante-room  to  reception- 
room,  and  so  onward  to  the  deepest  recesses  of  the 
palace  or  house,  the  guest  is  ushered  by  successive 
pages,  until  the  chief  steward  or  grand-chamberlain 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  175 

admits  him  into  the  presence  of  the  lord  of  the  mansion, 
who  already,  by  a  swift  page,  has  been  informed  of  the 
advance  of  the  visitor.  In  no  case  are  these  formalities 
dispensed  with  by  persons  of  high  breeding.  Breaking 
through  all  such  ancient  and  social  ceremonies,  the  rude 
Theban  viceroy  came  before*  her  as  I  have  described. 
The  brow  of  Remeses  darkened,  but  he  preserved  silence. 

"  I  am  glad,  prince,  that  you  have  been  so  diligent," 
said  Amense,  coldly.  "  When  will  you  depart  ?" 

"  Within  the  hour,  my  royal  aunt.  If  Remeses,  my 
warlike  cousin,  wishes  to  co-operate  with  me  at  Thebes, 
he  will  not  long  delay  marching  his  army  forward.  I 
hear,  by  a  swift  galley  just  arrived,  that  the  tierce  Ethi 
opian  king,  Occhoris,  with  half  his  mighty  host,  has 
already  dared  to  enter  the  Thinite  province,  and  men 
aces  Thebes !" 

"  There  is  no  time  for  delay,  then,"  cried  Remeses, 
rising  from  the  table,  leaving  the  grapes,  iigs,  and 
wheaten  rolls  untouched.  "Farewell,  my  mother !"  he 
said,  embracing  her.  "  In  a  few  weeks  I  shall  return  to 
you  with  tidings  that  the  scourge  of  your  kingdom  has 
perished  with  his  armies !" 

I  will  not  describe  the  tenderness  of  the  parting  be 
tween  the  queen  and  Remeses.  whom  she  would  have 
held,  refusing  to  release  him,  if  he  had  not  gently  disen 
gaged  himself,  taken  up  his  sword  and  helmet,  and 
hastened  from  the  apartment.  Prince  Moeris,  with  a 
haughty  bow  to  the  queen,  for  whom  he  seems  to  enter 
tain  bitter  dislike,  had  already  taken  his  departure  with 
his  captains  at  his  heels.  I  followed  Remeses,  and 
together  we  crossed  to  the  shore  on  the  side  of  On,  and 
there  meeting  chariots,  we  were  in  a  short  time  in  the 


176  THE    PILLAR   OF    FIRE    OR, 

midst  of  the  war-camp  of  his  chariot  legions.  They 
were  encamped  several  stadia  south  of  On,  on  the  plain 
beyond  Raamses.  Here,  in  the  little  Temple  of  Horns, 
on  the  terrace  of  which  we  held  our  conversation  about 
the  Hebrews  as  we  paced  its  long  pavement  (and. 
which  I  have  already  repeated  to  you),  the  prince 
with  his  chief  captains  offered  libations  and  burned  in 
cense,  invoking  the  favor  and  aid  of  Heaven  on  the 
expedition.  He  then  gave  his  orders  to  his  generals  of 
division,  chiefs  of  legions,  and  captains  ;  and  the  whole 
host,  forming  in  column  of  march,  moved  forward  to 
wards  the  south,  with  trumpets  sounding  and  the  rum 
bling  thunder  of  thousands  of  wheels  of  iron.  Seeing 
that  they  were  all  in  motion — each  battalion  under  its 
own  head-captain — the  prince  took  boat  to  cross  the  Nile 
to  the  plain  of  Memphis,  in  order  to  put  in  motion  the 
army  of  horse  and  foot  there  encamped.  On  our  way- 
over,  we  saw  the  van  of  the  fleet  of  the  Prince  of  Thebes 
coming  np  the  broad  river  in  stately  style,  fifty  abreast, 
propelled  by  innumerable  oars.  It  was  a  brave  and 
battle-like  front,  and  what  with  pennons  flying,  spears 
and  shields  gleaming  from  their  poop-decks  and  mast- 
towers,  and  the  brazen  or  gilt  insignia  of  hawks',  eagles', 
lions',  or  ibis'  heads  rising  upon  a  thousand  topmasts, 
and  all  catching  the  sunbeams,  the  spectacle  was  singu 
larly  impressive. 

f'Uxej'e  comes  a  prince,  my  Sesostris,"  said  Remeses 
to 'me,  as  he  surveyed  the  advancing  front  of  war, 
u  who,  if  I  should  fall  in  this  Ethiopian  expedition,  will 
be  Pharaoh  of  Egypt  when  my  mother  dies." 

"  The  gods  forbid  !"  I  exclaimed  with  warmth. 

j"He_Js  the  next  of  blood.     It  is  true,  my  mother 


ISRAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  177 

could,  by  will,  alienate  her  crown  and  confer  her 
sceptre  upon  any  one  she  chose  to  adopt.  Indeed,  1 
now  remember  that,  by  our  laws,  it  would  be  necessary 
for  her  publicly  and  ceremoniously  to  adopt  him  as  her 
son  before  he  could  reign — since  a  nephew,  by  the  an 
cient  Memphitic  law  regulating  succession,  cannot  in 
herit.  Mceris  would,  therefore,  have  to  be  adopted." 

"  Then  he  would  never  reign,"  I  said. 

Remeses  remained  silent  a  moment.  Resuming,  he 
said,  with  a  tone  of  indignant  emotion — 

"  Sesostris,  my  mother  fears  that  evil  young  princo. 
He  possesses  over  her  an  inexplicable  power.  To  this 
influence  he  owes  his  elevation,  from  being  a  mere  gov 
ernor  of  Sai's,  to  the  viceroyalty  of  Upper  Egypt.  He 
would  not  fail,  should  I  fall,  to  exert  his  mysterious 
power  over  her  mind,  and  his  ambition  would  prompt 
him  to  aim  at  even  the  throne  of  all  Egypt.  But  let  us 
mount !"  he  added,  as  we  touched  the  shore. 

A  score  of  horsemen,  armed  with  long  spears,  were  in 
waiting.  Remeses  and  I  mounted  horses  already  pro 
vided  ;  and,  at  a  wave  of  his  hand,  the  whole  party 
clashed  off  along  the  avenue  of  the  aqueduct,  a  magnifi 
cent  thoroughfare,  two  miles  in  length,  bordered  by  palm- 
trees,  with,  at  intervals,  a  monolith  statue  of  red  Syenite 
granite,  or  an  obelisk,  casting  its  needle-like  shadow 
across  the  wide,  paved  road.  At  the  end  of  this  avenue, 
which  leads  straight  from  the  river  to  the  pyramids,  we 
turned  south,  and  before  us  beheld,  spread  out  as  far 
as  the  eye  could  reach,  the  tented  field  of  the  vast 
Egyptian  host,  cavalry  and  footmen  of  all  arms,  lan 
guages,  and  costumes,  belonging  to  the  nations  tributary 
to  Egypt.  I  had  visited  this  vast  camp  the  preceding 

8* 


178  THE   PILLAR   OF    FIRE,   OR 

day.  It  covered  a  league  of  ground,  presenting  a  sea 
of  tents,  banners,  plumes,  spears,  and  shining  helms. 
As  we  came  in  sight,  a  trumpeter  sounded  a  few  loud 
notes  to  proclaim  the  presence  of  the  prince-general. 
We  dashed  up  to  the  central  pavilion,  on  the  summit  of 
which  the  winged  sun  of  burnished  gold  showed  that  the 
army  was  to  march  under  the  particular  guardianship  of 
the  god.  From  the  summit  of  the  staff  of  other  hand 
some  tents,  the  emblems  of  generals  and  chiefs  of  bat 
talions  were  displayed  in  the  form  of  silver  hawks'  heads, 
the  brazen  head  of  a  lion  or  wolf,  or  the  heads  of  the 
ibis,  crocodile,  and  vulture.  Each  phalanx  thus  marched 
under  and  knew  its  peculiar  emblem,  following  its  lead 
in  the  column  of  advance  on  the  march,  and  rallying 
around  it  in  the  midst  of  battle. 

Prince  Remeses  was  in  a  few  moments  surrounded  by 
his  generals  and  chief  warriors,  to  whom  he  made  known 
the  advance  of  the  Ethiopian  king,  Occhoris,  upon 
Thebes, — intelligence  of  wrhich  he  and  the  queen  had 
received  by  a  mounted  messenger,  wThile  Prince  Moeris, 
who  had  come  to  announce  it  also,  was  in  her  apartment. 
In  a  few  words  he  made  known  his  orders  to  each  gen 
eral  in  succession,  who,  making  a  low  military  obei 
sance,  by  bowing  the  head  and  turning  the  sword-point 
to  the  earth,  instantly  departed  to  their  divisions.  The 
general-in-chief  in  immediate  command  he  retained  by^ 
his  side,  with  his  gorgeous  staff  of  officers.  In  a  few 
minutes  all  was  life  and  movement  throughout  the  tent 
ed  field.  In  four  hours  the  whole  army — their  tents 
struck  and  conveyed  to  barges,  together  with  all  other 
military  impediments  not  necessary  for  the  soldiers 
on  their  march — was  formed  into  a  hollow  square  on 


1SKAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  179 

the  plain,  twenty  thousand  men  on  each  side  facing 
inward  to  a  temple  of  their  war-god,  Ranpo-re,  which 
stood  on  the  plain.  This  was  a  small  but  beautiful 
temple,  or  marble  pavilion,  in  the  form  of  a  peristyle, 
with  brazen  columns,  dedicated  to  the  Egyptian  Mars. 
It  was  erected  in  this  martial  plain  by  Amunophis  I., 
for  the  purpose  of  sacrifices  and  oblations,  and  of  offer 
ing  libations  and  incense  for  armies  assembled  about  it 
before  marching  on  warlike  expeditions.  The  circle  of 
columns  was  cast  from  the  shields  and  weapons  which 
he  had  taken  in  his  Arabian  and  Asiatic  wars. 

The  chief  priest  of  Mars,  wrho  is  a  prince  in  rank,  and 
allied  to  the  throne,  attended  by  more  than  one  hundred 
inferior  priests,  advanced  from  the  inner  shrine  upon  a 
marble  terrace,  in  the  centre  of  which  stood  the  iron- 
columned  pavilion  that  inclosed  the  shrine  of  the  god. 
He  was  attired  in  a  grand  and  imposing  costume,  having 
a  tiara,  adorned  by  a  winged  sun  sparkling  with  j  jvels, 
and  the  sacred  urseus,  encircling  his  brows.  He  wore  a 
llowing  robe  of»the  whitest  linen,  descending  to  his  feet. 
A  loose  upper  cape  of  crimson,  embroideied  with  gold, 
and  having  flowing  sleeves,  was  put  on  over  the  robe. 
Still  above  this  was  a  breastplate  of  precious  stones,  in. 
the  form  of  a  corselet,  while  the  tiara  partook  also  of 
the  martial  form,  being  shaped  like  a  helmet,  with  the 
sacred  asp  of  gold  projecting  in  front  as  a  visor.  Above 
all  this,  hanging  from  his  left  shoulder,  was  a  splendid 
leopard's  skin,  heavy  with  a  border  of  closely  woven 
rings  of  gold.  As  he  advanced,  he  extended  in  his  right 
hand  a  short  sword,  the  hilt  of  which  was  a  crux,  or 
the  sacred  cross-shaped  Tau,  surmounted  by  a  ball,  the 
whole  being  an  emblem  of  life ;  while  in  his  helmet 


180  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

to.wered,  as  symbols  of  truth  and  order,  two  *3trich 
feathers — the  evenness  and  symmetry  with  which  the 
feathery  filaments  grow  on  each  side  of  their  stem  hav 
ing  suggested  to  the  Egyptians  the  adoption  of  this 
emblem  ;  for  order  and  truth,  according  to  Egyptian 
philosophy,  are  the  foundation  and  preservation  of  the 
universe. 

Having  reached  the  front  of  the  lofty  terrace,  upon 
which  was  an  altar  of  brass,  he  raised  his  left  arm  by 
throwing  back  the  superb  leopard-skin  mantle;  and,  ele 
vating  his  commanding  form  to  its  full  grandeur,  he 
turned  slowly  round,  pointing  heavenward  with  his  left 
hand,  and  holding  his  sword,  as  it  were,  over  the  army 
as  he  turned,  until  with  it  lie  had  swept  the  circle  of 
the  horizon.  This  was  an  invocation  to  all  the  gods 
for  a  blessing  upon  the  assembled  hosts.  During  the 
act,  every  general  bowed  his  head  as  if  to  receive  it, 
every  soldier  lowered  his  weapon,  and  at  its  conclusion, 
all  the  music  bands  in  the  army  before  him  simultane 
ously  burst  into  an  overwhelming  sound — drums,  trum 
pets,  cornets,  cymbals,  filling  the  air  with  their  mingled 
roll !  Silence  deep  as  night  then  succeeded ;  and  the 
high-priest,  facing  the  shrine,  stood  while  a  company  of 
priests  rolled  out  from  the  door  of  the  temple  the  statue 
of  the  god,  clad  in  full  armor  of  steel,  inlaid  with  gold, 
a  jewelled  helmet  upon  his  head,  and  a  spear  in  his  right 
hand.  It  was  of  gigantic  size,  and  standing  in  an  atti 
tude  of  battle,  upon  a  lofty  chariot  of  burnished  brass, 
with  wheels  of  iron.  It  was  an  imposing  and  splendid 
figure,  and  a  just  image  of  wTar.  The  priests,  who 
wheeled  the  car  out  of  the  temple,  having  drawn  it  once 
all  around  the  terrace,  so  that  the  whole  army  could  be- 


ISRAEL    IN   BONDAGE.  181 

hold  the  mailed  and  helmeted  god  (whose  presence  they 
hailed  by  striking  their  swords  upon  their  shields,  or 
swords  against  swords),  stopped  in  front  of  the  prince- 
priest,  lie  then  prostrated  himself  before  it,  the  pro- 
foundest  silence  and  awe  prevailing  during  the  few  mo 
ments  he  remained  upon  his  face  at  the  feet  of  the  deity. 

When  he  rose  and  turned  to  the  west,  the  Prince  Ee- 
meses  and  all  his  captains  advanced  to  the  steps  of  the 
pyramidal  base  on  which  the  temple  was  elevated.  Each 
captain  was  followed  by  a  Nubian  slave,  bearing  in  a 
sacred  vase  the  offering  of  his  o\vn  phalanx  of  soldiers 
Remeses  bore  in  his  hand  a  costly  necklace,  dazzling 
with  precious  stones,  the  offering  of  his  mother.  The 
generals  and  captains  came  with  flowers,  chains  of  gold, 
the  lotus-leaf  made  of  ivory,  and  sparkling  with  jewels 
scattered  upon  it  in  imitation  of  dewdrops.  Some  bore 
swords,  and  spears,  and  plumes. 

Remeses,  at  the  head  of  his  officers,  ascended  the 
steps  and  presented  to  the  priest  his  mother's  offering, 
which  he  placed  over  the  head  of  the  god.  He  then 
laid  a  sword,  brought  for  the  purpose,  at  the  feet  of  the 
statue ;  but,  as  he  afterwards  explained  to  me,  and  as  I 
understood,  not  as  an  offering  to  a  mythical  Mars,  but  to 
the  Infinite  God  of  armies,  whom  the  statue  symbolized  ; 
yet  I  could  see  that  the  greater  part  of  his  officers  paid 
their  homage  and  made  their  offerings  to  the  mere 
material  statue.  Such  is  the  twofold  idea  attached, 
either  by  one  or  another  class  of  devotees,  dear  mother, 
to  all  worship  in  Egypt.  They  do  one  thing  and  mean 
another ;  of  course  I  speak  of  the  priests,  princes,  and 
philosophers.  As  for  the  people,  they  mean  what  they 
do  when  they  offer  a  libation  or  an  invocation  to  a  statue 


182  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

"When  the  chief  captains  had  presented  their  offerings, 
and  the  high-priest  had  either  decorated  the  god  with 
them,  or  laid  them  upon  the  altar  of  brass,  then  came 
the  Nubian  slaves,  laden  with  the  gifts  of  the  soldiers. 
There  were  sixty  of  these  offering-bearers,  and  in  pro 
cession  they  ascended  the  terrace,  each  with  a  painted 
earthen  vase  upon  his  shoulder.  One  after  another 
they  deposited  them  around  the  over-burdened  altar 
and  descended  to  the  plain,  not  daring  to  lift  their  eyes 
to  the  god,  so  near  to  whose  presence  they  came.  It 
was  my  privilege  to  stand  always  by  the  side  of  Re- 
meses,  who  desired  me  to  witness  the  scene. 

The  vases  contained  every  imaginable  article  that,  at 
the  moment,  a  common  soldier  might  have  about  his 
person.  There  weie  rings  of  silver,  of  copper,  of  wood, 
of  glass  ;  dried  figs,  tamarinds,  dates,  and  raisins  ;  garlics, 
leeks,  onions,  bits  of  inscribed  papyrus,  "palm-leaves, 
flowers  innumerable,  scarab  sei  of  burnt  clay,  pebbles, 
and  metal  ;  seeds  of  the  melon  and  radish,  and  incense- 
gum  ;  little  clay  images  of  Mars,  of  various  weapons, 
and  of  Osiris.  There  wrere  also  myrrh,  resin,  and  small 
pots  of  ointment  ;  pieces  of  iron,  fragments  of  weapons, 
locks  of  hair,  shreds  of  linen,  and  bits  of  ostrich  feathers  ; 
beans,  sandal-clasps,  charms,  amulets,  and  even  tiny 
bottles  of  wine.  Indeed,  to  enumerate  what  met  my 
eyes  in  the  vases,  which  the  common  soldiers  in  their 
piety  voted  to  the  god,  praying  for  a  successful  cam 
paign,  would  fill  the  page  on  which  I  write,  and  give 
you  the  name  of  nearly  every  thing  to  be  found  in 


When  all  these  offerings  had  been  received  by  the 
high-priest,  and  while  the  prince  and  his  officers  stood 


ISRAEL    IN   BONDAGE.  153 

some  paces  to  one  side,  he  stood  before  the  altar :  and 
one  article  from  each  vase  being  brought  to  him,  he 
laid  it  upon  the  altar,  and  then,  in  a  solemn  manner,  in 
voked  the  god,  asking  him  to  accept  the  offerings  of  this 
great  army,  and  of  its  prince  and  captains,  and  to  grant 
them  victories  over  their  foes,  and  a  return  to  their 
queen  crowned  with  conquest  and  glory. 

In  his  prayer  I  could  see  that  he  elevated  his  noble 
countenance  to  the  heavens,  as  if,  in  his  mind,  mentally 
overlooking  the  inanimate  statue  before  him,  and  direct 
ing  his  thoughts  to  the  Invisible  and  Supreme  Dweller 
in  the  secret  places  of  His  universe  beyond  the  sun! 
Remeses  etood  in  a  devotional  attitude,  but  with  his 
thoughtful  brow  bent  to  the  ground.  I  could  perceive, 
now  that  we  had  conversed  so  much  together  upon  these 
divine  things,  that  he  was  worshipping,  in  the  depths 
of  his  heart,  the  God  of  gods,  wherever  that  Dread  and 
Mighty  Power  is  enthroned  on  the  height  of  His  uni 
verse,  or  the  wings  of  the  imagination  can  go  out  to 
Him  and  find  Him. 

The  great  invocatory  prayer  ended,  the  high -priest  re 
ceived  from  Remeses  a  votive  crystal  box  of  the  fragrant 
Ameracine  ointment — a  gift  so  costly  and  precious  that 
only  the  princes  and  the  priests  are  permitted  to  possess 
It — and  broke  it  upon  the  breast  of  the  god,  anointing 
him  in  the  name  of  the  people  of  Egypt.  The  odor 
filled  all  the  air.  A  priest  then  handed  to  him  a  golden 
cup  richly  chased  with  sacred  symbols,  and  another, 
tilling  it  from  a  vase  of  wine,  the  offering  of  the  chief 
Archencherses,  who  is  next  in  military  rank  to  Remeses, 
he  elevated  it  a  moment,  and  poured  it  out  at  the  feet  of 
the  god  as  a  libation  for  the  hosts.  Some  other  interesting 


184  THE   PILLAR   OF  FIRE,    OK 

ceremonies  followed,  such  as  consecrating  and  present 
ing  a  sword  to  the  prince,  and  the  touching  of  the  altar 
by  all  the  chiefs  with  the  points  of  their  weapons  as  they 
passed  it  in  descending  to  the  field,  the  high-priest 
sprinkling  each  one  of  them  with  sacred  water  from  the 
Nile.  The  last  act  of  sacrifice — for,  though  bloodless, 
the  Egyptians  term  the  whole  rite  a  sacrifice  to  the  god 
— was  by  Remeses.  The  high-priest  placed  in  his  hands 
a  censer — for  the  prince,  by  virtue  of  his  rank,  is  a  royal 
priest ;  and  Remeses,  accepting  it  with  reverence,  cast 
iipon  the  live  coals  of  palm-wood  a  quantity  of  incense. 
Then  approaching  the  altar,  he  waved  it  before  it  until 
clouds  of  smoke  rose  into  the  air  and  enveloped  his 
head. 

At  this  moment,  the  most  sacred  one  of  the  whole 
scene,  there  appeared  advancing  from  the  pavilion-tem 
ple  a  beautiful  maiden,  the  daughter  of  the  high-priest. 
She  was  arrayed  in  a  pure  white  robe,  which  floated 
about  her  in  the  wind  like  a  cloud.  Over  her  shoulders 
was  thrown  a  crimson  scarf,  on  which  was  embroidered 
the  cartouch  of  the  god.  Her  rich,  flowing  hair  was 
bound  about  her  stately  brow  by  a  crown  of  flowers, 
above  which  rose  a  silver  helm  with  a  crest  of  emeralds 
and  sapphires,  in  imitation  of  the  feathery  coronet  of  the 
bird-of-paradise.  Her  face  was  wonderfully  beautiful, 
her  dark  eyes  beamed  with  love  and  joy,  and  her  form 
was  the  impersonation  of  grace. 

As  she  advanced,  the  priests  on  either  side  drew  back 
with  their  hands  crossed  upon  their  foreheads,  and  theii 
heads  bent  lowly  before  her  presence.  Coming  forward 
between  the  two  rows  of  officials,  she  shook  in  the  air 
above  her  head  a  small  temple  bell  called  the  sistrum^ 


ISRAEL   IN    BONDAGE.  185 

which  emitted  the  sweetest  and  clearest  melody.  This 
little  musical  instrument  is  sacred  to  the  services  of  the 
temples,  and  the  sound  of  it  is  the  signal  for  the  begin 
ning  or  ending  of  every  rite.  That  which  was  now 
borne  by  the  high-priest's  daughter  consisted  of  a  cylin 
drical  handle  of  pearl,  surmounted  by  a  double-faced 
head  of  ivory,  one  side  being  that  of  Isis,  the  other  of 
.Nephthys.  From  this  twofold  head  rose  a  silver  almond- 
shaped  bow  abont  five  inches  high,  inlaid  with  gold  and 
precious  stones.  In  this  bended  loop  of  metal  were  in 
serted  four  metallic  bars  in  the  shape  of  asps,  upon  the 
body  of  which  were  loosely  strung  several  silver  rings. 
As  the  maiden  held  this  beautiful  instrument  in  the  air, 
and  shook  it,  the  rings,  moving  to  and  fro  upon  the  bars, 
produced  the  clear  bell-like  sounds  I  have  mentioned. 
In  ancient  times  so  great  was  the  privilege  of  holding  the 
sacred  sistrum  in  the  temple,  it  was  given  to  the  queens  ; 
and  on  great  occasions  Amense  has  performed  this 
high  ofiice.  On  an  obelisk,  now  old,  the  daughter  of 
Cheops  is  represented  holding  the  sistrum  while  the 
king  is  sacrificing  to  Thoth.  Though  I  have  said  little 
about  the  Egyptian  females,  as  in  truth  I  have  seen  but 
little  of  them,  yet  I  ought  not  to  omit  to  tell  you  that 
some  of  the  most  sacred  offices  are  intrusted  to  distin 
guished  women,  in  the  services  of  temples.  I  have  seen 
not  only  priests'  daughters,  but  ladies  of  rank  and 
eminent  beauty,  holding  these  places ;  and  in  On  there 
is  a  band  of  noble  young  ladies  having  the  distinguished 
title  of  "  Virgins  of  the  Sun,"  who  devote  their  lives 
until  they  are  thirty  years  of  age,  to  certain  principal 
services  of  the  temples  of  Osiris  and  Isis.  Indeed,  my 
dear  mother,  in  Egypt  woman  is  singularly  free,  and 


186  THE   PILLAR   OF    FIRE,    OR 

regarded  as  man's  companion  and  equal.  She  is  re 
spected  and  honored,  both  as  wife  and  mother,  and 
her  social  relations  are  of  the  most  unrestrained  and 
agreeable  kind.  In  all  houses,  she  is  prepared  grace 
fully  to  do  honor  to  her  lord's  guests ;  and  while  she  is 
devoted  to  domestic  duties,  prides  herself  upon  her  skill 
and  taste  at  home  ;  abroad,  at  banquets  and  evening- 
festivals,  which  are  frequent,  and  where  there  is  music 
and  dancing,  she  shines  with  all  the  charms  she  can 
borrow  from  splendor  of  attire,  or  derive  from  inherent 
loveliness  of  person ;  while  a  profusion  of  jewels  upon 
her  hands  and  neck  reveal  her  wealth  and  rank. 

When  the  prince  saw  her  advancing,  he  approached 
the  statue  with  his  censer,  and  wraving  it  once  in  the 
sight  of  the  army,  hung  it  upon  the  spear  of  the  god. 
The  sistrurn  sounded  as  tho  incense  rose,  and  every  man 
of  that  vast  host  bent  his  knee  for  a  moment !  Then  the 
high-priest  commenced  a  verse  of  a  loud  chant  in  a 
sonorous  voice.  The  one  hundred  priests  marching,  in 
procession  around  the  god,  answered  antiphonally  with 
one  voice  in  a  part ;  and,  the  whole  army  catching  up 
the  hymn,  the  very  pyramids  seemed  to  tremble  at  the 
thunder  of  eighty  thousand  deep  voices  of  men  rolling 
alorg  the  air.  Then  Remeses  chanted  a  few  stirring  words 
of  this  national  and  sacred  war-hymn,  the  high-priest 
answered,  the  maiden's  clear  voice  rose  in  a  melodious 
solo,  the  hundred  priests  caught  up  the  ravishing  strain 
as  it  melted  from  her  lips  in  the  skies,  and  again  the 
great  army  uttered  its  voice  !  My  heart  was  oppressed 
by  the  sublimity.  Tears  of  emotion  filled  my  eyes.  I 
never  was  more  deeply  impressed  with  the  majesty  of 
the  human  voice,  united  in  a  vast  multitude,  uttered  aa 


ISKAEL   IX   BONDAGE.  187 

the  voice  of  one  man.  The  combined  voice  of  the 
human  race — if  such  a  thing  could  be — must  be  like  the 
voice  of  God  when  He  speaks  ! 

The  invocation  and  sacrifice  were  over.  Hemeses 
embraced  the  priest,  and  receiving  his  blessing,  in  a  few 
minutes  every  chief  captain  had  joined  his  battalion, 
and  at  the  cry  of  trumpets  and  cornets,  sounded  all  over 
the  plain,  and  echoed  back  from  Cheops,  the  whole  host 
formed  in  columns  of  march.  Remeses,  I  being  in  his 
company,  galloped  forward  and  took  a  position  on  an 
elevation,  from  which  he  reviewed  the  wrhole  army  as  it 
tramped  by.  The  fleet  was  in  parallel  motion  at  the 
same  time,  and  I  saw  the  splendid  galley  of  the  Prince 
Mceris,  with  its  colored  silken  sails,  and  golden  beak, 
gallantly  ascending  the  river.  He  stood  upon  the  poop  ; 
a  tame  lion  crouched  by  his  side,  on  the  tawny  shoulders 
of  which  he  rested  one  foot  as  he  gazed  at  us.  The 
division  of  cavalry  was  the  last  in  moving,  and  trotted 
past  us  in  splendid  array.  This  arm  of  the  service  is 
not  large,  nor  much  relied  on  in  Egypt.  The  chariots  of 
iron,  to  the  hubs  of  which  terrible  scythes  are  sometimes 
fastened  on  the  eve  of  battle,  and  the  bowmen  and  spear 
men,  have  always  been  the  main  dependence  of  the 
kings  in  their  wars. 

Ethiopia,  against  which  this  great  army  is  moving  by 
water  and  land,  is  in  a  state  of  civilization  and  political 
power  not  greatly  inferior  to  Egypt.  It  has  vast  cities, 
noble  temples,  extensive- cultivated  regions,  adorned 
with  palaces  and  villas ;  it  has  a  gorgeous  but  semi-bar- 
baric  court,  a  wTell-disciplined  army,  and  skilful  generals. 
It  is  a  race  allied  by  blood  and  lineage  to  that  of  Egypt, 
and  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  Nubia  and  the  pure 


188  THE  PILLAR  OF  FIRE,  OR 

Africanic  kingdoms.  In  religion  it  is  idolatrous,  and 
hostile  to  the  worship  of  Egypt.  A  supposed  title,  by  a 
former  conquest,  to  the  crown  of  Thebes,  has  made 
Ethiopia  for  three  centuries  the  hereditary  foe  of 
Egypt. 

The  Egyptian  army  is  divided  into  sections,  formed 
and  distinguished  according  to  the  arms  they  bear. 
They  consist,  like  ours,  of  bowmen,  spearmen,  swords 
men,  macemen,  slingers,  and  other  corps.  % There  are 
captains  of  thousands,  captains  of  hundreds,  fifties,  and 
tens.  "When  in  battle-array,  the  heavy  foot-soldiers,  or 
infantry  armed  with  spears,  and  a  falchion,  or  other 
similar  weapon,  are  drawn  up  in  the  form  of  an  impene 
trable  phalanx ;  and  once  this  massive  wall  of  ten  thou 
sand  men  formed,  it  is  fixed  and  unchangeable ;  and  such 
is  its  strength,  one  hundred  men  on  each  front,  and  one 
hundred  deep,  no  efforts  of  any  of  the  enemies  of  Egypt 
have  been  able  to  break  it.  Presenting  a  wall  of  huge 
shields  lapping  and  interlocked,  resting  on  the  ground, 
and  reaching  to  their  heads,  the  missiles  of  the  foe  rattle 
against  it  as  against  the  steel-sheathed  side  of  one  of 
their  battle-ships.  The  bowmen,  slingers,  javelin-men, 
and  lighter  troops  act  in  line,  or  dispose  themselves  ac 
cording  to  the  nature  of  the  ground,  or  the  exigency  of 
the  moment.  There  is  a  corps  armed  with  battle-axes 
and  pole-axes,  having  bronze  blades  ornamented  with 
1  leads  of  animals.  These  wear  quilted  helmets,  without 
crests,  which  effectually  protect  the  head.  The  chariot 
battalions  are  drawn  up  to  charge  and  rout  the  enemy's 
line,  and  the  cavalry  follow  to  slay  the  resisting,  and  pur 
sue  the  flying.  Each  battalion  has  its  particular  stand 
ard,  which  represents  a  sacred  subject — either  a  king's 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  189 

name  on  his  cartoncli  or  painted  shield,  a  sacred  baris, 
a  hawk,  or  a  feather.  The  chief  standard-bearer  is  a 
man  of  approved  valor,  and  an  officer  of  the  greatest 
dignity,  and  stands  next  to  the  chief  in  rank.  He  is  dis 
tinguished  by  a  gold  necklace  collar,  on  which  are  repre 
sented  two  lions  and  an  eagle — emblems  of  courage.  The 
troops  are  summoned  to  all  movements  by  the  sound  of 
the  trumpet  and  the  long  drum,  with  other  instruments. 

The  offensive  weapons  of  the  army  are  the  bow,  spear, 
javelin,  sling,  a  short,  straight  sword,  a  dagger,  broad 
knife,  falchion,  battle-axe,  spear-axe,  iron-headed  mace, 
and  a  curved  club  adopted  from  the  Ethiopians.  Their 
defensive  arms  consist  of  the  helmet,  either  of  iron, 
bronze,  brass,  silver,  or  plaited  gold,  according  to  the 
rank  of  the  wearer ;  usually  without  a  crest,  and  extend 
ing  to  the  shoulders,  in  a  collar  or  hood  of  chain-mail, 
protecting  the  neck  ;  they  wear  also  a  cuirass  of  metal 
plates,  or  quilted  witli  bands  of  polished  iron,  and  an 
ample  shield,  of  various  forms,  but  usually  that  of  a 
funeral  tablet,  or  a  long  and  narrow  horseshoe.  This 
piece  of  armor  is  the  chief  defence.  It  is  a  frame  cov 
ered  with  bull's  or  lion's  hide,  bound  with  a  rim  of  metal, 
and  studded  with  iron  pins.  The  archers  wear  no 
bucklers,  but  corselets  of  scale-armor. 

I  will  now  end  this  long  letter,  my  dear  mother,  and 
my  description  of  Egyptian  armies,  by  naming  the 
nations  of  which  it  was  made  up.  As  I  sat  upon  my 
horse  by  the  side  of  the  prince,  surveying  the  marching 
columns  as  they  moved  southward,  I  distinguished  the 
tall,  Asiatic-looking  Sharetanian  by  his  helmet  orna 
mented  with  bull's  horns,  and  a  red  ball  for  a  crest,  his 
round  shield,  and  large  ear-rings — a  fierce  race,  once  tho 


190  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

foes  but  now  the  allies  of  Egypt ;  the  bearded  Tokkari 
from  beyond  the  horns  of  the  Arabian  Sea,  armed  with 
a  pointed  knife,  and  short,  straight  sword,  with  arched 
noses  and  eagle  eyes, — also  once  enemies  of  the  queen, 
but  now  added  to  her  armies  ;  an  unknown  people,  with 
tall  caps,  short  kilt  and  knife-girdle  ol  lion's  hide,  an 
amulet  of  agate  on  the  neck  of  every  man — strangers, 
with  wild,  restless  eyes,  and  tierce  looks ;  the  swarthy 
Rebos,  with  his  naked  breast  and  shoulders,  and  long 
two-headed  javelin  ;  the  Pouonti,  with  faces  painted 
with  vermilion,  and  cross-bows  with  iron-headed  arrows, 
archers  that  never  miss  their  mark.  There  marched  by, 
also,  the  relentless  Shari,  who  neither  ask  nor  give 
quarter  to  their  enemies,  their  masses  of  black  hair 
bound  up  in  fillets  of  leather,  and  skull-caps  of  bull's 
hide  on  their  heads,  whose  weapons  are  clubs  and  short 
daggers.  Other  bands,  differing  in  costume  and  aipear- 
ance,  continued  to  pass,  until  it  seemed  that  the  q  ieen'? 
army  had  in  it  representatives  of  all  nations  tributary  t< 
Egypt. 

Continuing  with  Remeses  a  day's  march,  I  then  parted 
from  him  to  return  to  the  palace,  promising,  as  soon  as 
I  had  seen  Lower  Egypt,  I  would  ascend  the  Nile  and 
meet  him  at  Thebes. 

Farewell,  dearest  mother ;  may  the  gods  of  our  coun 
try  preserve  you  in  health. 

Your  devoted  son, 

SESOSTPJS. 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  191 

I 


LETTEE   XII. 


PALACE  OF  THE  PHAEAOKS,  MEMPHIS. 

MY    HONORED    AND    VERY    DEAR    MOTHER  .' 

IN  my  last  letter  I  was  particular  in  describing 
to  you  the  armies  of  Egypt,  as  I  have  not  forgotten  the 
interest  you  take  in  the  discipline  of  your  own,  nor  that 
once  you  led  in  your  chariot  a  battle-charge  when  your 
kingdom  was  invaded  by  the  king  of  the  Elamites.  In 
Egypt,  which  is  truly  a  warlike  country,  one  cannot 
but  be  inspired  by  the  military  spirit.  Not  only  is  she 
the  school  to  all  the  world  of  astronomy,  sculpture, 
physic,  astrology,  and  magic,  but  also  of  arms. 

In  the  army,  recently  departed  for  Ethiopia,  I  saw 
many  young  lords  and  princes  and  heroes,  strangers,,  who 
accompany  the  expedition  to  learn  the  art  of  war.  The 
Egyptians  are  eminent  in  planning  and  executing  sieges, 
and  few  fortified  towns  can  resist  their  war-engines. 

From  my  description  in  the  last  letter,  you  would 
suppose  that  Egypt  is  now  emptied  of  its  soldiers.  On 
the  contrary,  there  is  a  garrison  in  every  city,  and  a 
fortress  filled  with  troops  in  every  one  of  the  thirty  or 
more  nomes.  Besides,  there  are  all  over  the  country, 
where  the  Hebrews  are  congregated,  lesser  detachments, 
who  keep  vigilant  guard  over  this  toiling  nation  in 
bondage.  The  queen  is  also  at  war  with  a  prince  of 


192  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

Arabia  Deserta,  and  an  army  of  twelve  thousand  men, 
four  hundred  chariots,  and  a  thousand  horsemen,  have 
recently  marched  against  him.  Egypt  is  /powerful 
enough  to  combat  the  combined  world.  Her  forces  are 
not  less  than  four  hundred  thousand  trained  warriors  of 
i  all  arms,  besides  sixteen  thousand  chariots  of  iron. 
|  Power,  thrift,  activity,  and  energy  characterize  Egypt. 
The  wise,  courageous,  firm  rule  of  the  queen  has  con 
tributed  to  this.  What  she  has  brought  to  such  glory 
and  perfection,  Remeses,  when  lie  comes  to  the  throne, 
will  preserve  and  perpetuate. 

The  mention  of  my  noble  friend  reminds  me  that  he  is 
no  longer  near  me.  The  army  has  been  in  motion  south 
ward  eight  days,  and  he  has  written  to  the  queen,  and 
also  to  me,  speaking  of  the  prosperity  attending  their 
advance.  The  fleet  had  not  kept  up  with  the  army  of 
foot,  while  the  chariot  legion  on  the  east  bank  has  gone 
far  in  advance  and  encamped.  Every  day,  incense  is 
burned,  and  intervention  made  in  all  the  temples,  for  the 
success  of  the  expedition. 

In  the  mean  while,  my  dear  mother,  I  will  devote  my 
letters  to  daily  scenes  around  me. 

The  queen's  health  is  now  firmly  established,  and  she 
extends  to  me  the  kindness  and,  I  may  say,  affection, 
which  she  would  to  a  son ;  but  I  am  conscious  that  I  am 
so  honored  as  the  friend  of  her  absent  son,  who,  at  part 
ing  from  me  a  stadium  above  Memphis,  said  : 

"  My  Sesostris,  be  near  my  mother,  and  in  the  pleas 
ure  of  your  society,  let  her  regrets  at  my  absence  find 
compensation.  When  you  have  seen  all  of  Lower 
Egypt,  come  to  the  Thebai'd,  and  go  with  me  and  my 
army  into  Ethiopia." 


ISRAEL    IN    BONDAGE.  193 

I  promised  that  I  would  follow  him  by  and  by ;  but 
now  I  am  engaged  in  seeing  the  wonders  of  Memphis, 
and  those  marvels  of  ages — those  "  temples  of  the  gods" 
— the  mighty  pyramids.  I  will  soon  devote  a  letter  to 
an  account  of  my  first  visit  to  Memphis  and  the  pyra 
mids.  It  was  made  a  day  or  two  after  we  came  to  re- 
side  in  the  palace  at  Rhoda.  Remeses,  though  hourly 
occupied,  had  kindly  promised  he  would  accompany  me 
to  the  city  of  Apis,  and  there  place  me  in  charge  of  a 
son  of  the  priest  of  the  temple.  I  arose  the  following 
morning  a  few  minutes  before  sunrise,  in  order  to  be 
prepared  to  go  early.  My  window  looked  forth  upon 
On,  a  league  and  a  half  distant,  with  its  grand  avenue 
of  columns,  sphinxes,  obelisks,  and  towering  propyla 
clasping  it  to  the  shining  river.  The  splendor  of  that 
morning,  my  dear  mother,  I  shall  never  cease  to  remem 
ber.  The  atmosphere  of  Egypt  is  so  crystalline,  that 
light  lends  to  it  a  peculiar  glow.  As  I  looked  eastward,) 
the  skies  had  the  appearance  of  sapphire  blended  with 
dust  of  gold ;  and  from  the  as  yet  invisible  sun,  a  gor 
geous  fan  of  radiant  beams,  of  a  pale  orange-color,  spread 
itself  over  the  sky  to  the  zenith.  Not  a  cloud  was  visi 
ble  ;  nor,  indeed,  have  I  seen  one  since  I  have  been  in 
Egypt,  This  magnificent  glory  of  the  Orient  steadily 
grew  more  and  more  wonderful  for  beauty  and  richness 
of  colored  light,  when,  all  at  once,  the  disk  of  the  bright 
god  of  day  himself  majestically  rolled  up  into  sight, 
filling  heaven  and  earth  with  his  dazzling  and  overpow 
ering  light,  while  the  golden  shield  on  the  temple  of  the 
Kim  caught  and  reflected  his  rays  with  almost  undimin- 
ished  brilliancy. 

As  I  regarded  with  delight  this  sublime  sunrise,  there 

9 


194:  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

came  borne  to  my  ears,  from  the  direction  of  the  templo 
of  Osiris,  in  Memphis,  the  sound  of  music.  Walking 
round  the  terrace  to  that  side,  I  heard  the  voices  of  a 
thousand  priests  chanting  the  morning  hymn  to  the  god 
of  light,  the  dazzling  "  Eye  of  Osiris."  Then  I  recol 
lected  that  this  was  the  day  of  the  celebration  of  the 
revival  or  resurrection  of  Osiris,  one  of  the  most  impor 
tant  days  in  the  sacred  calendar.  The  whole  city  seemed 
to  be  in  motion,  and  boats  garlanded  with  flowers,  and 
filled  with  gayly  attired  people,  were  crossing  to  the  city 
and  temple  at  every  point.  Music  from  a  hundred  in 
struments  filled  the  air,  which  seemed  to  vibrate  with 
joy  and  delight.  The  city  of  Apis  had  on  its  gala  ap 
parel,  and  all  the  world  was  abroad  to  welcome  the  sun- 
rising  and  join  in  the  processions. 

Remeses  joined  me  while  I  was  watching  the  scene, 
and  listening  to  the  grand  waves  of  harmony  as  they 
rolled  away  from  the  temple  and  sounded  along  the  air 
in  majestic  volumes  of  sound. 

"  I  see  you  are  interested,  my  Sesostris,  in  this  enli 
vening  scene.  It  is  a  day  of  rejoicing  to  the  worship 
pers  of  Osiris." 

"  It  seems,  my  dear  prince,"  I  replied,  "  as  if  every 
day  I  have  passed  in  Egypt  has  been  a  festival  to  some 
of  its  deities." 

"  Our  year  is  more  than  two  thirds  of  it  consecrated 
to  the  gods ;  that  is,  supposing  a  day  given  to  each,  the 
most  of  the  year  is  religious.  We  are  a  people  given  to 
piety,  so  far  as  we  understand,  All  our  works  are  con 
secrated  by  prayer  or  sacrifice  ;  and  whether  we  go  to 
war,  or  engage  in  merchandise,  build  a  palace  or  a 
tomb,  prayer  and  oblation  precede  all.  Are  you  readj 


ISEAEL    IN   BONDAGE.  195 

to  go  to  the  city  and  pyramids  as  soon  as  we  break  our 
fast  ?  My  mother  has  invited  us  to  breakfast  with  her." 
I  expressed  my  readiness,  and  we  left  to  seek  the  pres 
ence  of  the  queen.  As  we  entered,  she  was  superin 
tending  a  piece  of  embroidery  of  the  richest  colors,  which 
three  maidens  were  at  work  upon  at  one  end  of  the 
apartment.  They  remained  a  few  minutes  after  our  en 
trance,  glancing  at  us  timidly,  yet  curiously  and  archly. 
When  their  royal  mistress  had  received  us,  she  made  a 
slight  gesture  with  her  hand,  and  the  dark-eyed  girls, 
disappearing  behind  a  screen,  left  the  apartment.  I  had 
time  to  see  that  they  were  very  young,  of  an  olive,  bru 
nette  complexion,  with  braided  and  tastefully  arranged 
dark-brown  hair,  their  slender  persons  habited  in  neat 
vestures  of  mingled  colors,  fitting  the  form,  but  open  in 
front,  displaying  a  soft,  fine  linen  robe,  with  loose, 
fringed  sleeves.  They  had  ear-rings,  and  numerous  fin 
ger-rings,  and  gilt,  red,  gazelle-leather  sandals,  laced 
with  gay  ribbons  across  the  small,  naked  foot.  These, 
as  the  queen  informed  me,  belonged  to  families  of  offi 
cers  of  the  palace.  One  of  them,  the  tallest,  and  who 
was  most  striking  in  her  appearance,  had  eyes  of  won 
derful  beauty,  the  effect  of  the  expression  of  which  was 
deepened  by  painting  the  lids  with  a  delicate  shade  ol 
cohol.  She  was  the  daughter  of  the  royal  scribe,  Yene- 
phis,  and  her  own  name  is  Yenephe  ;  and  here,  my  deal 
mother,  since  you  asked  me  in  your  last  letter  why  I  am 
so  silent  upon  the  subject  of  Egyptian  ladies,  I  will  devote 
a  little  space  to  them.  But  you  know  that  my  heart  so 
wholly  belongs  to  the  lovely  Princess  Thamonda,  the 
daughter  of  the  Prince  of  Chaldea,  that  it  is  entirely  in 
sensible  to  any  impressions  which  the  high-born  Egyptian 


196  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

maids  might  otherwise  make  upon  it.  I  will,  however, 
learn  more  of  them  by  seeking  their  society,  my  dear 
mother,  and  henceforward  will  give  them  all  the  atten 
tion  they  merit  in  my  letters. 

I  have  seen  many  ladies  of  great  elegance  and  ease  of 
manner.  The  court  of  Egypt  is  composed  of  an  im 
mense  number  of  nobles  and  high  officers,  whose  pal 
aces  crowd  the  cities  of  On  and  Memphis,  and  whose 
tasteful,  garden-environed  villas  extend  far  beyond  their 
limits.  Some  of  these  nobles  have  the  title  of  princes, 
when  they  govern  one  of  the  thirty-six  nomes,  or  com 
mand  armies.  They  are  opulent,  fond  of  display  in  ap 
parel  and  architecture,  great  lovers  of  flowers  and  paint 
ings,  and  their  dwellings  are  profusely  decorated  with  the 
one  and  adorned  with  the  other.  These  men  of  rank 
are  educated,  polished  in  bearing,  courteous  and  affable. 
Their  wives  are  their  superiors  in  refinement,  being 
daughters  of  men  of  the  same  rank  and  social  distinc 
tion.  Nobles  and  noble  ladies  by  hereditary  title  there  are 
none  in  Egypt ;  for  it  is  the  boast  of  the  Egyptians,  and 
it  is  often  inscribed  on  their  monuments,  that  Egvptians, 
being  all  equally  "  sons  of  Misr,"  are  all  born  equal. 
It  is  official  elevation  and  position  at  court,  as  the  reward 
of  talent  or  services,  which  create  noble  rank.  Yet 
there  are  families  here  who  speak  with  pride  of  the 
glory  and  fame  of  ancestors ;  and  I  know  young  Egyp 
tian  nobles  whose  forefathers  were  lords  in  the  court  of 
the  old  Pharaohs,  of  the  XVth  and  XYIth  dynasties.  I 
have  already  alluded  to  the  brave  young  officer  of  the 
chariot  battalion,  Potipharis,  whose  ancestor,  a  lord  of 
the  court  of  Apophis,  purchased  of  the  Iclumeans  the 
youthful  Hebrew  who  subsequently  ruled  Egypt  as 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  197 

prime  minister ;    and  whose  family,  now  grown  to  a 
great  nation,  are  held  here  in  hopeless  bondage. 

The  women  of  Egypt  owe  their  high  social  rank  to 
the  respect  shown  them  by  the  men,  who  give  them 
precedence  everywhere.  The  fact  that  Egypt  is  ruled 
by  a  queen,  is  testimony  that  woman  is  honored  here 
by  the  laws  of  the  realm,  as  well  as  by  the  customs  of 
the  people,  or  she  would  not  have  succeeded  to  the 
throne.  It  is  not  a  mere  influence  derived  from  their 
personal  attractions  that  women  possess  here ;  but  their  ^>* 
claims  to  honor  and  respect  are  acknowledged  by  law, 
in  private  as  well  as  in  public.  Said  Ilemeses  to  me,  a 
day  or  two  since,  when  I  was  remarking  upon  the  uni 
versal  deference  paid  to  the  sex,  "  We  know,  unless 
women  are  treated  with  respect  and  made  to  exercise  an 
influence  over  the  social  state,  that  the  standard  of  pri 
vate  virtue  and  of  public  opinion  would  soon  be  lowered, 
and  the  manners  and  morals  of  men  would  suffer."  How 
differently  situated  is  woman  with  us !  Respected  she 
undoubtedly  is,  bat  instead  of  the  liberty  she  enjoys 
here,  behold  her  confined  to  certain  apartments,  not  per- 
mitted  to  go  abroad  unveiled,  and  leading  a  life  of  indo 
lent  repose. 

In  acknowledging  this,  dear  mother,  the  laws  point 
out  to  the  favored  women  of  Egypt  the  very  responsible 
duties  they  have  to  perform.  The  elevation  of  woman 
to  be  the  friend  and  companion  of  man,  is  due  to  the 
wisdom  of  the  priesthood.  These  men  have  wives  whom 
they  love  and  respect,  and  I  have  seen  the  priest  of  On 
seated  in  his  summer  parlor,  which,  overlooks  the  street, 
by  the  side  of  his  noble-looking  wife  (who,  it  is  said,  is 
a  descendant  of  a  priest  of  On,  whose  daughter  waa 


198  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

married  to  Prince  Joseph,  the  Hebrew),  surrounded  by 
their  children,  and  manifesting  their  mutual  affection  by 
numberless  domestic  graces ;  and  I  was  charmed  with 
the  expressions  of  endearment  I  heard  them  use  to  each 
other  and  to  their  children.  What  a  contrast  all  this  to 
the  priests  of  Tyre,  who  regard  celibacy  as  the  highest 
act  of  piety  ! 

The  hand  of  your  sex,  my  dear  mother,  is  apparent  in 
all  the  household  arrangements,  and  in  the  furniture 
and  style  of  the  dwellings.  In  her  contract  of  marriage 
it  is  written,  that  the  lady  shall  have  the  whole  regula 
tion  of  domestic  affairs  and  the  management  of  the 
house,  and  that  the  husband  shall,  in  all  such  matters, 
defer  to  the  judgment  and  wishes  of  the  wife.  Neither 
king,  priest,  nor  subject  can  have  more  than  one  wife, 
a  custom  differing  from  our  own,  and  far  superior  to  it. 
It  is  owing  to  this  universal  honor  paid  to  the  sex,  that 
queens  have  repeatedly,  since  the  ancient  reign  of  Bi- 
nothris,  held  the  royal  authority  and  had  the  supreme 
direction  of  affairs  intrusted  to  them.  It  is  proper  to 
say,  that  although  the  Egyptians  have  but  one  wife,  they 
are  not  forbidden  by  the  laws  to  have  favorites,  who  are 
usually  slaves,  and  owe  their  elevation  to  talents  or 
beauty.  They  do  not,  however,  hold  any  social  relation  ; 
and  the  wife,  to  whom  alone  is  given  the  title  "lady  of 
the  house,"  enjoys  an  acknowledged  superiority  over 
them.  ,But  concubinage,  though  tolerated,  is  not  re 
garded  with  favor,  and  is  practised  by  few. 

The  Egyptian  ladies  employ  much  of  their  time  with 
the  needle  ;  and  either  with  their  own  hands,  or  by  the 
agency  of  their  maidens,  they  embroider,  weave,  spin, 
and  do  needle-work — the  last  in  the  most  skilful  and 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  199 

beautiful  manner.  They  embroider  chairs  with  thread 
of  gold  or  silver,  adorn  sofas  with  embroidery,  and  orna 
ment  coverings  for  their  couches  with  needle-work  of 
divers  colors,  so  artfully  executed  as  to  appear,  on  both 
sides,  of  equal  beauty  and  finish.  At  the  banquets  or 
social  festivals,  which  are  very  frequent,  for  the  Egyp 
tians  are  fond  of  society,  the  ladies  sit  at  the  same  table 
with  the  men,  and  no  rigid  mistrust  closes  their  doors 
on  such  occasions  to  strangers,  towards  whom  they  are 
ever  courteous  and  hospitable ;  save  only  in  religious 
ceremonies,  from  which,  and  "the  mysteries  of  their 
theology,"  they  are  jealously  excluded. 

I  have  already  spoken  of  the  services  of  women  in  the 
temples.     These  do  not  marry.     Although  females  may 
make  offerings  to  Isis,  they  cannot  be  invested  with  any 
sacerdotal  office ;  and  a  priest  must  preside  at  the  obla 
tion.     They  are  rarely  seen  reading,  their  leisure  being 
occupied  chiefly  in  talking  together  in  social  companies. 
They  vie  with  each  other  in  the  display  of  silver  jewels,\ 
and  jewels  set  in  gold;  in  the  texture  of  their  raiment,   \ 
the  neatness  and  elegance  of  the  form  of  their  sandals, 
and  the  arrangement  or  beauty  of  their  plaited  hair. 

If  two  ladies  meet  at  a  banquet  or  festival,  it  is  con 
sidered  an  amiable  courtesy  to  exchange  flowers  from 
the  bouquet  that  Egyptian  ladies  always  carry  in  the 
hand  when  in  full  costume.  They  are  passionately  de 
voted  to  dancing,  and  frequently  both  ladies  and  gentle 
men  dance  together ;  but  I  think  when  the  former  dance 

O 

in  separate  parties,  their  movements  are  marked  by  su 
perior  grace  and  elegance.  Their  dances  consist  usually 
of  a  succession  of  figures  more  or  less  involved ;  yet  I 
have  seen  two  daughters  of  the  captain  of  the  guard,  at 


200  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE;    OR 

a  private  entertainment  given  by  the  queen,  perform  a 
dance  to  a  slow  air  played  upon  the  flute  and  lyre,  with 
a  grace  of  attitude  and  harmony  of  motion  delightful  to 
follow  with  the  eye.  Grace  in  posture,  elegance  of  atti 
tude,  and  ease  of  movement  are  their  chief  objects  in  the 
dance. 

It  is  not,  however,  customary  for  the  nobles  and  their 
families  to  indulge  in  this  amusement  in  public,  where 
usually  the  dancing  is  performed  by  those  who  gain  a 
livelihood  by  attending  festive  meetings.  They  look 
upon  it,  however,  as  a  recreation  in  which  all  classes 
may  partake  ;  and  all  castes  engage  in  it,  either  in  pri 
vate  festivities  or  in  public.  The  lower  orders  delight 
in  exhibiting  great  spirit  in  their  dances,  which  often 
partake  of  the  nature  of  pantomime ;  and  they  aim 
rather  at  ludicrous  and  extravagant  dexterity,  than  dis 
plays  of  elegance  and  grace.  At  evening,  under  the 
trees  of  an  avenue  ;  at  noon,  in  the  shade  of  a  temple ; 
by  public  fountains,  and  before  the  doors  of  their  dwell 
ings,  I  often  see  the  men  and  women  amusing  them 
selves,  dancing  to  the  sound  of  music,  which  is  indis 
pensable.  At  the  houses  of  the  higher  classes,  they 
dance  to  the  harp,  pipe, -guitar,  lyre,  and  tambourine  ;  but 
in  the  streets  and  other  places,  the  people  perform  their 
part  to  the  music  of  the  shrill  double-pipe,  the  crotala 
or  wooden  clappers,  held  in  the  fingers,  and  even  to  the 
sound  of  the  drum ;  indeed,  I  have  seen  a  man  dancing 
a  solo  on  the  deck  of  a  galley  at  anchor  in  the  river, 
to  the  sound  of  the  clapping  of  hands  by  his  companions. 
Certain  wanton  dances,  consisting  of  voluptuous  and 
passionate  movements,  by  Arabian  and  Theban  girls, 
whose  profession  it  was,  from  the  impure  tendency  of 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  201 

their  songs  and  gestures,  have  been  very  properly  for 
bidden  by  the  queen  in  her  dominions.  There  are  cer 
tain  religions  processions  in  which  women  take  part ; 
they  attend  the  funerals  of  their  deceased  relatives,  and 
hired  women  appear  as  mourners. 

I  have  devoted,  my  dear  mother,  so  much  of  this  let 
ter  to  a  description  of  the  ladies  of  Egypt,  in  compli 
ance  with  your  expressed  wish,  and  I  will  appropriate  the 
residue  of  my  papyrus,  if  the  ink  fail  not,  to  an  account 
of  their  homes,  that  you  may  see  how  they  live ;  since, 
from  their  private  life,  great  insight  is  obtained  into  their 
manners  and  customs.  The  household  arrangements, 
the  style  of  the  dwellings,  as  well  as  the  amusements  and 
occupations  of  a  people,  explain  their  habits. 

The  style  of  domestic  architecture,  in  this  warm  cli 
mate,  is  modified  to  suit  the  heat  of  the  weather.  The 
poorer  classes  (for  though  all  Egyptians  are  born  equal, 
yet  there  are  poor  classes),  as  well  as  castes,  live  a  great 
part  of  their  time  out  of  doors,  seeking  rather  the  shade 
of  trees  than  the  warmth  of  habitations.  And  now  that 
I  have  alluded  to  "  castes,"  I  will  briefly  explain  the  de 
grees  of  society  in  Egypt. 

Though  a  marked  line  of  distinction  is  maintained 
between  the  different  ranks  of  society,  they  appear  to 
be  divided  rather  into  "  classes"  than  "  castes,"  as  no 
man  is  bound  by  law  to  follow  the  occupation  of  his 
father.  Sons,  indeed,  do  usually  follow  the  trade  of  their 
father,  and  the  rank  of  each  man  depends  on  his  occu 
pation.  But  there  are  occasional  exceptions,  as,  for  in 
stance,  the  sons  of  a  distinguished  priest  are  in  the  army 
with  Remeses,  and  a  son  of  the  admiral  of  the  fleet  of 
the  Delta  is  high-priest  in  Memphis. 

9* 


202  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

Below  tlie  crown  and  royal  family,  the  first  class  con 
sists  of  the  priests ;  the  second,  of  soldiers ;  the  third, 
of  husbandmen,  gardeners,  huntsmen,  and  boatmen ; 
the  fourth,  of  tradesmen,  shop-keepers,  artificers  in  stone 
and  metals,  carpenters,  boat-builders,  stone-masons,  and 
public  weighers ;  the  fifth,  of  shepherds,  poulterers, 
fowlers,  fishermen,  laborers,  and  the  common  people  at 
largeJ  Many  of  these,  says  the  record  from  which  I 
have  obtained  my  information,  are  again  subdivided,  as 
chief  shepherds  into  ox-herds,  goat-herds,  and  swine 
herds  ;  which  last  is  the  lowest  grade  of  the  whole  com 
munity,  since  no  one  of  the  others  will  marry  their 
daughters,  or  establish  any  family  connection  with  them ; 
for  so  degrading  is  the  occupation  of  tending  swine  held 
by  the  Egyptians,  that  they  are  looked  upon  as  impure, 
and  are  even  forbidden  to  enter  a  temple  without  pre 
viously  undergoing  purification. 

Thus  you  perceive,  my  mother,  that  Egypt  practi 
cally  acknowledges  many  degrees  of  rank,  although 
she  boasts  that  "  every  son  of  Misr  is  born  egual." 

These  classes  keep  singularly  distinct,  and  yet  livo 
harmoniously  and  sociably  with  each  other.  Out  of 
them  the  queen's  workmen  are  taken,  and  the  lowest 
supplies  the  common  laborers  on  the  public  works, — 
thousands  of  whom,  clad  only  in  an  apron  and  short 
trowsers  of  coarsely  woven  grass-cloth,  are  to  be  found 
at  work  all  over  Egypt,  and  even  ^mingled  with  the 
Hebrews  in  some  parts  of  their  tasks.  "And  the  He 
brews  ?"  you  may  ask ;  for  I  perceive  by  your  letter 
that  you  are  interested  in  the  fate  and  history  of  this 
captive  nation;  "what  rank  do  they  hold  among  all 
these  castes  ?" 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  203 

They  remain  a  distinct  and  separate  people,  neither 
i^'garded  as  a  class  or  caste.  They  pursue  but  jDne  oc 
cupation,  brick-making,  with  its  kindred  work  of  digging 
the  loam,  gathering  the  straw,  kneading  the  clay,  and 
carrying  the  bricks  to  the  place  where  the  masons  need 
them.  They  neither  associate  nor  intermarry  with  any\ 
of  the  Egyptian  classes.  They  are  the  crown  slaves,  born 
in  bondage,  below  the  lowest  free-born  Egyptian  in  the 
land  of  Misraim.  Even  the  swine-herd  belongs  to  a  class, 
and  is  equal  by  birth,  at  least,  with  the  Pharaoh  who 
rules;  but  the  Hebrew  is  a  bond-servant,  a  stranger, 
despised  and  oppressed.  Yet  among  them  have  I  seen 
men  worthy  to  be  kings,  if  dignity  of  aspect  and  noble 
ness  of  bearing  entitle  men  to  that  position. 

I  will  now  return,  and  describe  to  you  the  habitations 
of  the  Egyptians,  my  dear  mother.  Houses  slightly  re 
moved  beyond  the  degree  of  mere  barbarous  huts,  built 
of  crude  brick,  and  very  small,  are  the  habitations  of 
the  lower  orders.  Others,  of  more  pretension,  are  stuc 
coed,  and  have  a  court ;  others,  still  superior,  have  the 
stuccoed  surface  painted,  either  vermilion  and  orange, 
in  stripes,  or  of  a  pale-brown  color,  with  green  or  blue 
ornaments,  fanciful  rather  than  tasteful.  Those  of  mer 
chants,  and  persons  of  that  grade,  are  more  imposing ; — 
corridors,  supported  on  columns,  give  access  to  the  dif 
ferent  apartments,  through  a  succession  of  shady  avenues 
and  courts,  having  one  side  open  to  the  breezes ;  while 
currents  of  fresh  air  are  made  to  circulate  freely  through 
the  rooms  and  halls,  by  a  peculiar  arrangement  of  the 
passages  and  courts  ;  for,  to  have  a  cool  house  in  this 
ardent  latitude  is  the  aim  of  all  who  erect  habitations. 
Even  small  detached  dwellings  of  artificers  and  trades- 


204  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

men,  consisting  of  four  walls,  with  a  flat  roof  of  palm- 
branches,  laid  on  split  date-trees  as  abeam,  covered  with 
mats,  and  plastered  with  mud  of  the  Nile,  having  but 
one  door,  and  wooden  shutters, — even  such  humble  hab 
itations  have  in  the  centre  an  open  court,  however  lim 
ited,  with  rooms  opening  to  the  air  on  one  side ;  while 
around  the  small  court  are  planted  one  or  more  palms, 
for  shade,  besides  adorning  it  with  plants  of  their  favor 
ite  flowers.  I  have  seen  some  such  neat  little  abodes, 
not  much  larger  than  cages,  with  a  cheerful  family  in  it, 
who  lived  out  of  doors  all  day,  dining  under  the  shado 
of  their  tree,  and  dancing  in  their  open  court  by  moon 
light,  to  the  music  of  clapping  hands  or  the  castanets, 
until  bedtime,  using  their  houses  only  to  sleep  in ;  and 
such  is  the  happy  life  of  half  the  Egyptians  of  their  grade. 
The  grander  mansions,  less  than  palaces,  are  not  only 
stuccoed  within  and  without,  but  painted  with  artistic 
and  tasteful  combinations  of  brilliant  tints.  They  have 
numerous  paved  courts,  with  fountains  and  decorated 
walls,  and  are  adorned  with  beautiful  architectural 
devices,  copied  from  the  sacred  emblems  and  symbols 
in  the  temples,  and  arranged  and  combined  in  forms  or 
groups  in  the  most  attractive  style.  Over  the  doors  of 
many  houses  are  handsome  shields  or  tablets,  charged 
with  the  hieroglyph  of  the  master,  inscribed  with  some 
sentence.  Over  that  of  the  house  of  the  chief  weigher 

O 

of  metals,  opposite  my  palace  window  in  On,  was  writ 
ten  "The  House  of  the  Just  Balance."  Over  another 
"  The  good  house ;"  and  over  a  third,  "  The  friend  of 
Rathoth,  the  royal  scribe,  liveth  here."  .Any  distinc 
tion,  or  long  journey,  or  merit,  or  attribute,  gives  occa 
sion  for  an  inscription  over  the  entrances. 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  205 

The  beauty  of  a  house  depends  on  the  taste,  caprice, 
or  wealth  of  its  builders.  The  priests  and  lords  of 
Egypt  live  in  luxurious  abodes,  and  a  display  of  wealth 
is  found  to  be  useful  in  maintaining  their  power,  and 
securing  the  respect  and  obedience  of  the  under  classes. 

"  The  worldly  possessions  of  the  priest,"  said  an 
Egyptian  scribe  of  the  temple  of  Apis,  "  are  very  great ; 
and  as  a  compensation  for  imposing  upon  themselves  at 
times  abstemiousness,  and  occasionally  limiting  their 
food  to  certain  things,  they  are  repaid  by  improved 
health,  and  by  the  influence  they  acquire  thereby. 
Their  superior  intelligence  enables  them,"  he  continued, 
ironically,  "  to  put  their  own  construction  on  regulations 
and  injunctions  emanating  from  their  sacred  body,  with 
the  convenient  argument,  that  what  suits  them  does  not 
suit  others."  The  windows  of  the  houses  are  not  large, 
and  freely  admit  the  cool  breezes,  but  are  closed  at 
night  by  shutters.  The  apartments  are  usually  on  the 
ground-floor,  and  few  houses,  except  perhaps  in  Thebes, 
exceed  two  stories  in  height.  They  are  accessible  by  an 
entrance  court,  often  having  a  columnar  portico  decked 
with  banners  or  ribbons,  while  larger  porticos  have 
double  rows  of  columns,  with  statues  between  them. 
When  there  is  an  additional  story,  a  terrace  surmounts 
it,  covered  by  an  awning,  or  by  a  light  roof  supported 
upon  graceful  columns.  Here  the  ladies  often  sifc  by 
day :  and  here  all  the  family  gather  at  the  close  of  the 
afternoon  to  enjoy  the  breeze,  and  the  sight  of  the 
thronged  streets^  and  surrounding  scene,— for  it  is  open 
on  all  sides  to  the  air.  In  the  trades'  streets  the  shops 
are  on  the  ground-floor,  and  the  apartments  for  families 
are  above.  As  it  scarcely  ever  rains,  the  tops  of  the 


206  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

houses,  terraced,  and  covered  with  a  handsomely  fringed 
awning,  are  occupied  at  all  hours,  and  even  at  night  as 
sleeping-places  by  the  "  lord  of  the  house,"  if  the  apart 
ments  below  are  sultry  and  close.  Some  noble  edifices 
have  flights  of  steps  of  porphyry  or  marble  leading 
to  a  raised  platform  of  Elephantine  or  Arabic  stone, 
with  a  doorway  between  two  columns  as  massive  as 
towers — ambitious  imitations  of  the  propyla  of  the  tem 
ples.  These  gateways  have  three  entrances,  a  smaller 
one  on  each  side  of  the  principal  entrance  for  servants, 
who  are  very  numerous  in  an  Egyptian  house  of  the 
first  class.  Such  is  the  house  of  my  friend,  the  Admiral 
Pathromenes,  whom  I  visited  the  day  I  saw  him  in  his 
galley,  and  just  before  he  sailed  with  the  fleet  for  Ethi 
opia. 

On  entering  the  portal,  1  passed  into  an  open  court,  on 
the  right  side  of  which  was  the  mandara  or  receiving- 
room  for  visitors,  where  servants  took  my  sandals,  and 
offered  water  for  my  hands  in  silver  ewers,  at  the  same 
time  giving  me  bouquets  of  flowers.  This  room,  sur 
rounded  by  gilt  columns,  and  decorated  with  banners, 
'was  covered  by  an  awning  supported  by  the  columns, 
and  was  on  all  sides  open  to  within  four  feet  of  the  floor, 
which  lower  space  was  closed  by  inter  columnar  panels, 
exquisitely  painted  with  marine  subjects.  Above  the 
paneling  a  stream  of  cool  air  was  admitted,  while  the 
awning  afforded  protection  from  the  rays  of  the  sun. 
This  elegant  reception-hall  had  two  doors — that  by  which 
I  had  entered  from  the  street,  and  another  opposite  to  it 
which  communicated  with  the  inner  apartments.  Upon 
my  announcement  by  the  chief  usher,  the  admiral  came 
through  the  latter  door  to  receive  me ;  hence  the  title 


ISRAEL   IN    BONDAGE.  207 

of  "reception-room"  given  to  this  column-adorned  and 
paneled  hall.  He  embraced  me,  and  entered  with  me 
by  his  side  into  a  corridor  which  led  into  a  court  of 
largo  dimensions,  ornamented  in  the  centre  with  an 

O  / 

avenue  of  trees — palm,  olive,  orange,  and  iig  trees,  the 
latter  being  an  emblem  of  the  land  of  Egypt.  Here 
numerous  birds  liLed  their  leafy  coverts  with  melody. 
Six  apartments  faced  as  many  more  on  two  sides  of  this 
court — the  corridor,  or  piazza,  of  pictured  columns 
extending  along  their  entire  front;  and  before  the 
corridor  was  a  double  row  of  acacia-trees.  We  did 
not  turn  to  these  rooms,  but,  advancing  along  the 
charming  avenue  between  them,  passed  around  a  brazen 
fountain-statue  of  Eothos  or  Neptune,  who  was  pouring 
water  out  of  a  shell  upon  a  marble  lotus-leaf,  from 
which  it  fell  into  a  vase  of  granite.  Passing  this  figure, 
we  kept  the  avenue  till  we  came  to  a  beautiful  door 
facing  the  great  court.  It  was  of  palm-wood,  carved 
with  devices  of  branches  and  flowers,  and  inlaid  with 
ivory  and  colored  woods,  all  finely  polished.  At  this 
door  a  servant,  in  neat  apparel,  met  us,  and  opening  it 
ushered  us  into  the  sitting-room  of  "the  lady  of  the 
house,"  who  had  already  received  notice  of  our  ap 
proach,  and  who,  presenting  me  with  flowers,  welcomed 
me  graciously,  and  with  a  cordiality  that,  gave  me  a 
favorable  estimation  of  the  goodness  of  her  heart,  and 
the  amiability  of  her  disposition. 

Thus,  dear  mother,  have  I  given  you  some  insight 
into  Egyptian  home-life,  and  introduced  you  into  the 
inmost  private  room  of  one  of  their  houses.  I  will  close 
my  description  by  saying,  that  the  ceiling  of  the  recep 
tion-room  was  richly  and  tastefully  adorned  with  the 


208  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,   OR 

pencil ;  that  gracefully  shaped  chairs,  covered  with 
needle-work  ;  solas,  inlaid  tables,  couches  with  crimson 
and  gold  embroidery,  and  elegant  vases  of  flowers,  were 
charmingly  disposed  about  it;  and  that  a  lute  and  two 
sistra  were  placed  near  a  window,  and  a  harp  stood 
between  two  of  the  columns  that  inclosed  a  pictured 
panel  representing  the  finding  of  Osiris. 

Farewell,  dearest  mother.  You  will  see  that  I  have 
now  acquitted  myself  of  the  charge  of  indifference  to  so 
interesting  a  subject  as  the  mode  of  life  of  the  ladies  of 
Egypt,  and  by  hastening  to  describe  it  to  you  in  this 
letter,  have  evinced  my  profound  filial  ruy^ipnce  for 
your  slightest  wish. 

Your  fait.hful  and  affectionate  son, 


ISRAEL    IN   BONDAGE.  209 


LETTEE    XIII 

THK  CITY  OF  APIS. 

N 

MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 

I  THANK  you  for  jour  long  and  very  welcome  let 
ter,  written  from  your  palace,  at  Sidon,  whither  you 
went  to  celebrate  the  rites  of  Adonis.  It  assures  me  of 
your  continued  health,  which  may  the  gods  guard  with 
jealous  care,  for  not  only  the  stability  of  your  kingdom, 
but  my  whole  happiness  depends  on  your  life,  beloved 
mother  and  queen.  You  also  allude  to  your  visits  to 
the  temples  of  Astarte  and  of  Tammuz,  on  Lebanon. 
What  a  noble  worship  was  that  of  our  fathers,  who, 
amid  its  gigantic  cedars,  old  as  the  earth  itself,  there  first 
worshipped  the  gods !  How  majestic  must  have  appeared 
their  simple  rites,  with  no  altar  but  the  mountain  rock, 
no  columns  but  the  vast  trunks  of  mighty  trees,  no  roof 
but  the  blue  heavens  by  day,  and  the  starry  dome  by 
night;  while  at  morning  and  evening  went  up  the  smoke 
of  the  sacrifice  of  bullocks  to  the  gods.  These  were  the 
first  temples  of  men,  not  builded  by  art,  but  made  by 
the  gods  themselves  as  meet  places  for  their  own  wor 
ship.  I  question,  dear  mother,  if  the  subsequent  descent 
of  religion  from  its  solemn  shrines,  in  the  dark  forests  of 
Libanus,  into  the  valleys  and  cities,  to  be  enshrined  in 
temples  of  marble,  however  beautiful,  lias  elevated  it. 


210  THE    PILLAR   OF    FIRE,    OR 

Though  the  Phoenicians  built  the  first  temples  on  the 
peninsula  of  Tyre,  before  any  others  existed,  save  in 
groves;  yet  in  Egypt  (which  claims  also  this  honor),  the 
"  houses  of.. the  gods,"  in  their  vast  and  pyramidal  as 
pects,  their  pillars  like  palm-trees,  their  columns  like 
cedars,  approach  more  nearly  to  the  dignity,  sublimity, 
and  majesty  of  the  primeval  forests  and  eternal  moun 
tains  where  religion  first  offered  prayer  to  heaven. 

Your  visit  to  the  temple  of  Tammuz,  at  Sareptha, 
recalls  a  legend  which,  singularly  enough,  I  first  hear  in 
Egypt,  of  the  origin  of  the  rites  to  that  deity. 

The  books  of  the  priests  here,  relating  to  Phoeni 
cian,  Sabsean,  Persian,  and  Chaldean  ceremonies  (for 
the  learning  of  the  Egyptians  seems  to  embrace  a 
knowledge  of  books  of  all  countries),  relate  that  Tam 
muz  was  a  "certain  idolatrous  prophet  of  the  Sabaean 
Fire-worshippers,  who  called  upon  King  Ossynoaces,  our 
remote  ancestor,  and  commanded  him  to  worship  the 
Seven  Planets  and  the  Twelve  Signs  of  the  constella 
tions.  The  king,  in  reply,  ordered  him  to  be  put  to 
death.  On  the  same  night  on  which  he  was  slain,"  con 
tinues  the  book  from  which  I  write,  "  a  great  gathering 
of  all  the  images  of  the  gods  of  the  whole  earth  was 
held  at  the  palace,  where  the  huge  golden  image  of  the 
sun  was  suspended;  whereupon  this  image  of  the  sun 
related  what  had  happened  to  his  prophet,  weepihg  and 
mourning  as  he  spoke  to  them.  Then  all  the  lesser  gods 
present  likewise  commenced  weeping  and  mourning, 
which  they  continued  until  daylight,  when  they  all  de 
parted  through  the  air,  returning  to  their  respective 
temples  in  the  most  distant  regions  of  the  earth."  Such, 
dear  mother,  is  the  tradition  here  of  the  origin  of  the 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  211 

weeping  for  Tammuz,  the  observance  of  which  now 
forms  so  important  a  feature  in  our  Phoenician  worship, 
although  introduced,  as  it  was,  from  the  Sabseans  them 
selves. 

But  the  more  I  have  conversed  with  the  wise  and 
virtuous  Prince  Kemeses,  the  more  I  feel  the  gross 
nature  of  our  mythology,  O  mother,  and  that  images 
and  myths,  such  as  form  the  ground  and  expression  of 
our  national  worship,  and  that  rest  wholly  in  the  material 
figure  itself,  are  unworthy  the  reverence  of  an  intelligent 
mind.  It  is  true,  we  can  look  at  them,  and  honor  that 
which  they  represent, — as  I  daily  look  at  your  picture, 
which  I  wear  over  my  heart,  and  kissing  it  from  love  for 
thee,  do  not  worship  and  adore  the  ivory,  and  the  colors 
that  mark  upon  its  surface  a  sweet  reflection  of  your 
beloved  and  beautiful  countenance.  Oh,  no  !  It  is  you 
far  away  I  think  of,  kiss,  love,  and  in  a  manner  adore. 
Yet  an  Egyptian  of  the  lowest  order,  seeing-  me  almost 
worshipping  your  picture,  would  believe  I  was  adoring 
an  effigy  of  my  tutelar  goddess.  And  he  would  be 
right,  so  far  as  my  heart  and  thought,  and  you  are  con 
cerned,  my  mother.  In  this  representative  way,  I  am 
now  sure  that  Rerneses  regards  all  images,  looking 
through  and  beyond  them  up  to  the  Supreme  Infinite. 
I  also  have  imbibed  his  lofty  spirit  of  worship,  and  have 
come  to  adore  the  statues  as  I  worship  your  picture. 
But  where,  O  mother,  is  the  Infinite?  When  I  think  of 
you.  I  can  send  my  soul  towards  you,  on  wings  that  bear 
me  to  your  feet,  either  in  your  private  chamber  at 
needle-work,  or  with  your  royal  scribe  as  you  are  dic 
tating  laws  for  the  realm,  or  upon  your  throne  giving 
judgment.  In  memory  and  imagination,  I  can  instantly 


212  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

send  my  th oughts  out  to  von,  and  behold  you  as  you  are. 
But  the  Iniiiiite,  whom  Remeses  calls  GOD,  in  contra 
distinction  to  lesser  gods,  where  does  He  hide  Himself? 
Why,  if  He  is,  does  He  not  reveal  Himself?  "Why  does 
He  suffer  us  to  grope  after  Him,  and  not  iind  Him?  If 
He  be  good,  and  loving,  and  gracious  in  His  nature.  He 
will  desire  to  make  known  to  His  creatures  these  attri 
butes.  But  how  silent — how  impenetrable  the  mystery 
that  environs  Him  in  the  habitation  of  His  throne  !  Will 
He  forever  remain  wrapped  up  in  the  dark  clouds  of 
space?  .Will  He  never  reveal  Himself  in  His  moral 
nature  to  man  ?  Will  He  never  of  Himself  proclaim  to 
the  creation  His  unity — that  there  is  no  God  but  One, 
~and  besides  Him  there  is  none  else?  How  can  He  de 
mand  obedience  and  virtue  of  men  when  they  know  not 
His  laws  ?  Yet,  consciousness  within,  visible  nature, 
reason,  all  demonstrate  that  there  is  but  one  Supreme 
God,  a  single  First  Cause,  how  numerous  soever  the  in 
ferior  deities  He  may  have  created  to  aid  in  the  govern 
ment  of  His  vast  universe ;  and  that  to  Him  an  intel 
lectual  and  spiritual  worship  should  be  paid.  This  is 
the  theory  of  Remeses,  who  seems  to  be  infinitely  above 
his  people  and  country  in  piety  and  wisdom.  Sometimes 
I  fancy  that  he  draws  jnspiration  from  this  Infinite  God 
whom  he  worships  in  his  heart,  and  recognizes  through 
his  intellect ;  for  his  utterances  on  these  themes  are 
often-  like  the  words  of  a  god,  so  wonderful  are  the  mys 
teries  treated  of  by  him,  so  elevating  to  the  heart  and 
mind. 

But  I  will  repeat  part  of  a  conversation  we  had  to 
gether,  after  he  had  offered  in  the  temple  of  Apis  his 
sacrifice  for  the  restoration  of  the  queen's  health.  Ho 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  213 

said,  as  we  walked  away  together,  along  a  beautiful 
and  sacred  avenue  of  acacia  and  delicate,  fringe-like 
ittel  or  tamarisk  trees,  alternating  with  the  pomegranate 
and  mimosa : 

"  Sesostris,  doubtless,  after  all  my  conversations  with 
yon,  I  seemed  an  idolater  to-day,  quite  as  material  and 
gross,  in  the  offerings  and  prayers  I  made,  as  the  galley- 
rower  we  saw  offering  a  coarse  garland  of  papyrus-leaves 
and  poppies  to  the  god." 

"No,  my  noble  prince,"  I  answered;  "I  saw  in  you 
an  intellectual  sacrifice!*,  whose  bodily  eyes  indeed  be 
held  the  sacred  bull,  but  whose  spirit  saw  the  Great 
Osiris,  who  once  dwelt  in  the  bull  when  on  earth.  You 
honored  the  house  where  anciently  a  god  abode." 

"  No,  Sesostris,  the  Vull  is  nothing  to  me  in  any  sense  ; 
but  as  the  prince  of  a  realm  whose  laws  ordain  the  wor 
ship  of  Apis  in  Memphis,  of  the  ram-headed  Ammon  at 
Thebes,  or  the  sacred  ox  at  On,  I  outwardly  conform  to 
customs  which  I  dare  not  and  cannot  change.  Or  if  1 
would,  what  shall  I  give  the  people  if  I  take  away  their 
gods  ?  My  own  religion  is  s^mjtual,  as  I  believe  yours 
is  becoming;  but  how  shall  I  present  a  spiritual  faith  to 
the  Egyptians  ?  In  what  form — what  visible  shape,  can 
I  offer  it  to  them?  for  the  priests  will  demand  a  visible 
religion — one  tangible  and  material.  The  people  can 
not  worship  an  intellectual  abstraction,  as  we  can,  Se- 
sostris,  and  as  the  more  intelligent  priests  pretend  they 
do  and  can.  Yet  if,  when  I  come  to  the  throne,  by  an 
imperial -edict  I  remodel  the  theology  of  the  priesthood 
and  the  worship  of  the  people — remove  the  golden  sun 
from  the  temple  in  On,  slaj^the  sacred  bu?l  Apis,  and 
banish  the  idols  from  ail  the  thousand  temples  of  the 


214:  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

two  Egypts,  with  what  shall  I  replace  the  religion  I  de 
pose  ?" 

"  With  an  intellectual  and  spiritual  worship  of  the 
Supreme  Infinite,"  I  answered. 

"But  who  will  enlighten  my  own  ignorance  of  Him, 
Sesostris?"  he  inquired  sadly.  "What  do  I  know  of 
Him,  save  from  an  awakened  consciousness  within  my 
bosom  '(  How  can  I  make  others  possess  rliat  conscious 
ness  which  is  only  intuitive,  and  so  incommunicable  ? 
I  must  first  know  where  God  is,  before  I  can  direct  the 
people  whither  to  look  for  Him  when  they  pray.  I 
must  first  cultivate  their  minds  and  imaginations,  in  or 
der  to  enable  them  to  embrace  a  purely  mental  religion^ 
and  to  worship  the  Infinite  independently  of  figures,  im 
ages,  and  visible  mementos  or  symbols ;  for,  so  long  as  they 
have  these  at  all,  they  will  rest  their  faith  in  them,  and 
will  look  upon  them  as  their  gods.  But  what  do  I  know 
of  the  God  I  would  reveal  to  them  ?  Absolutely  noth 
ing  !  That  there  can  be  but  one  Supreme  God,  reason 
demonstrates ;  for  if  there  were  two  equal  gods,  they 
would  have  equal  power,  equal  agency  in  the  creation 
and  upholding  of  all  things,  in  the  government  of  the 
world,  and  in  the  worship  of  men !  Two  equal  gods, 
who  in  no  case  differ  one  from  the  other,  but  are  in  all 
things  one  and  the  same,  are  virtually  but  one  God. 
Therefore,  as  neither  two,  nor  any  number  of  equal  gods, 
can  exist  without  acting  as  a  unit  (for  otherwise  they 
cannot  act),  there  can  be  only  one  God  !" 

I  at  once  assented  to  the  conclusiveness  of  the  prince's 
reasoning. 

"  God,  then,  existing  as  One,  all  beings  in  his  universe 
are  below  Him,  even  His  creatures  the  'gods,'  if  there 


ISRAEL    IN   BONDAGE.  215 

be  such  made  by  Him.  It  becomes,  therefore,  all  men 
to  worship,  not  these  gods,  but  the  God  of  gods.  That 
he  should  be  worshipped  ^spiritually  is  evident,  for  lie 
must  be  a  spiritual  essence ;  and  as  we  are  certainly 
composed  of  spirits  and  material  bodies,  and  as  our  spir 
its  are  no  less  certainly  our  superior  part,  so  He  who 
made  the  spirit  of  man  must  be  superior  to  all  bodies  or 
forms  of  matter ;  that  is,  he  must  be  that  by  reason  of 
which  he  is  superior,  namely^.a  SPIRIT." 

I  then  said  to  this  learned  and  great  prince,  "Think- 
est  th on,  Remeses,  that  this  Infinite  God,  whom  we  be 
lieve  exists,  will  ever  make  a  revelation  of  Himself,  so 
that  He  may  be  worshipped  as  becomes  His  perfections? 
Do  you  think  the  veil  of  ignorance  which  hangs  between 
Him  and  us  will  ever  be  lifted  ?" 

"  Without  question,  my  Sesostris,"  he  answered,  with 
animation,  the  light  of  hope  kindling  in  his  noble  eyes, 
"  the  Creator  of  this  world  must  be  a  benevolent,  good, 
and  wise  Being." 

"  Of  that  there  can  be  no  doubt,"  was  my  reply. 

"  Benevolence,  goodness,  and  wisdom,  then,  will  seek 
the  happiness  and  elevation  of  man.  A  knowledge  of 
the  true  God,  whom  we  are  now  feeling  and  groping 
after  in  darkness,  with  only  the  faint  light  of  our  rea 
son  to  illumine  its  mysterious  gloom, — this  knowledge 
would  elevate  and  render  happy  the  race  of  men.  It 
would  dissipate  ignorance,  overthrow  idolatry,  place 
man  near  God,  and,  consequently,  lift  him  higher  in  the 
scale  of  the  universe.  A  God  of  wisdom,  benevolence, 
and  justice,  will  seek  to  produce  this  result.  The  world, 
therefore,  will  have  a  revelation  from  Him,  in  the  ful 
ness  of  time, — when  men  are  ready  to  receive  it.  It 


216  THE   PILLAR   OF    FIRE,    OR 

may  not  be  while  I  live,  Sesostris,  but  the  time  will 
fcome  when  the  knowledge  of  the  Infinite  God  will  be 
revealed  by  Himself  to  man,  who  will  then  worship 
Him,  and  Him  alone,  with  the  pure  worship  due  to  His 
majesty,  glory,  and  dominion." 

As  Remeses  concluded,  his  face  seemed  to  shine  with 

supernatural  inspiration,  as  if  he  had  talked  with  the 
Infinite  and  Spiritual  God  of  whom  he  spoke,  and  had 
learned  from  Him  the  mighty  mysteries  of  His  being. 
Then  there  passed  a  shadow  over  his  face,  and  he  said, 
sorrowfully — 

i;  How  can  I  lead  the  people  of  Egypt  to  the  true 
God,  when  He  hath  not  taught  me  any  thing  of  Himself? 
No,  no,  Sesostris,  Egypt  must  wait,  I  must  wait,  the 
world  must  wTait  the  day  of  revelation.  And  that  clay 
will  come,  or  there  is  no  God  !  For  an  ever-silent  God — 
a  God  who  forever  hideth  Himself  from  His  creatures 
— is  as  if  there  were  no  God !  But  that  there  is  a  God 
the  heavens  declare  in  their  glory,  the  ocean  hoarsely 
murmurs  His  name,  the  thunders  proclaim  His  power, 
the  lilies  of  the  field  speak  of  His  goodness,  and  we  our 
selves  are  living  manifestations  of  His  benevolence  and 
love.  Let  us,  therefore,  amid  all  the  splendor  of  the 
idolatry  which  fills  the  earth,  lift  up  our  hearts,  O  Se- 
•  sostris,  to  the  One  God!  and  in  secret  worship  Him, 
wheresoever  our  souls  can  find  Him,  until  He  reveals 
Himself  openly  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth." 

In  relating  this  conversation,  my  dear  mother,  I  not 
only  am  preparing  you  to  see  my  views  of  our  mythol 
ogy  materially  changed,  but  I  unfold  to  you  more  of 
the  sublime  character  of  Remeses,  and  give  you  some 
insight  into  his  deep  philosophy  and  wonderful  wisdom. 


ISRAEL    IN    BONDAGE.  217 

I  will,  in  connection  with  this  subject,  describe  to  you 
a  religious  scene  I  witnessed  in  the  Temple  of  Apis  on 
the  occasion  of  an  excursion  made  by  me  in  company 
with  Remeses,  from  the  Island  of  Rhoda. 

I  have  already  spoken  of  his  courtesy  in  offering  to 
accompany  me  to  Memphis,  at  which  city  he  left  me, 
immediately  after  his  oblation  and  thanksgiving,  and 
proceeded  to  attend  to  some  urgent  affairs  connected 
with  the  proposed  movement  of  the  army ;  with  which, 
since  then,  he  has  taken  his  departure. 

The  barge  in  which  1  left  the  palace  at  Rhoda,  was 
rowed  by  forty-four  men,  swarthy  and  muscular  to  a 
noticeable  degree,  who  belong  to  a  maritime  people, 
once  possessing  the  Pelusian  Delta,  but  who  are  now  re 
duced  to  a  servitude  to  the  crown.  They  have  a  sort  of 
chief,  called  Fellac,  whom  they  regard  partly  as  a  priest, 
partly  as  a  patriarch.  Under  him,  by  permission  of  the 
crown,  they  are  held  in  discipline.  They  have  a  myste 
rious  worship  of  their  own,  and  are  reputed  to  deal  in 
magic,  and  to  sacrifice  to  Typhon,  the  principle  of  evil. 

They  were  attired  in  scarlet  sashes,  bound  about  the 
waist,  and  holding  together  loose  white  linen  drawers, 
which  terminated  at  the  knee  in  a  fringe.  Their  shoul 
ders  were  naked,  but  upon  their  heads  each  wore  a  sort 
of  turban  of  green  cloth,  having  one  end  falling  over 
the  ear,  and  terminating  in  a  silver  knob.  These  were 
the  favorite  body-guard  rowers  of  the  prince.  Their  cap 
tain  was  a  young  man,  with  glittering  teeth,  and  large  oVal 
black  eyes.  He  was  mild  and  .serene  of  aspect,  richly 
attired  in  a  vesture  of  silver  tissue,  and  had  his  black 
hair  perfumed  with  jasmine  oil.  His  baton  of  office  was 
along  stick — not  the  long,  slender,  acaci'a  cane  which  all 

10 


218  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

Egyptian  gentlemen  cany,  but  a  staff  short  and  heavy, 
ornamented  with  an  alligator's  head,  which,  with  that  of 
the  pelican,  seem  to  he  favorite  decorations  of  this  sin 
gular  people. 

As  we  were  on  the  water,  moving  swiftly  towards  the 
quay  ol*  the  city,  amid  countless  vessels  of  all  nations,  a 
slave-barge  passed  down  from  Upper  Egypt,  laden  with 
Nubian  boys  and  girls,  destined  to  be  sold  as  slaves  in 
the  market.  Borne  with  velocity  along,  we  soon  landed 
at  the  grand  terrace-steps  of  the  quay.  They  were 
thronged  with  pilots,  shipmen,  those  who  hold  the  helm 
and  the  oar,  mariners,  and  stronger-merchants  innumera 
ble.  A  majestic  gateway,  at.  the  top  of  the  night  of  por 
phyry  stairs,  led  to  an  avenue  of  palm-trees,  on  each  side 
of  which  was  a  vast  open  colonnade  covered  with  a  wide 
awning,  and  filled  with  merchants,  buyers,  captains,  and 
officers  of  the  customs,  dispersed  amid  bales  of  goods 
from  all  lands  of  the  earth.  I  lingered  here,  tor  a  short 
time,  gazing  upon  these  representatives  of  the  wealth 
and  commerce  of  the  world.  This  is  the  great  landing- 

o  o 

mart  of  Memphis,  for  the  products  of  the  other  lands ; 
while  Jizeh,  lower  down,  is  the  point  from  whence  all 
that  goes  out  of  the  country  is  shipped.  The  strange 
cry  of  the  foreign  seamen,  as  they  hoisted  heavy  bales, 
and  the  wild  song  of  the  Egyptian  laborers,  as  they  bore 
away  the  goods,  the  confused  voices  of  the  owners  of  the 
merchandise,  the  variety  and  strange  fashion  of  their 
costumes,  the  numerous  languages  which  fell  upon  my 
ear,  produced  an  effect  as  novel  as  it  was  interesting. 

The  riches  and  beauty  of  what  I  saw  surprised  me, 
familiar  as  I  am  with  the  commerce  of  Tyre.  There 
were  merchants  from  Sheba,  bearded  and  long- robed 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  "  219 

men,  with  gold-dust,  spices  of  all  kinds,  and  precious 
stones  of  price ;  and  others  from  the  markets  of  Javan, 
with  cassia,  iron,  and  calamus ;  there  were  wines  from 
the  vine-country  of  Helbona,  and  honey,  oil,  and  balm 
from  Philistia ;  merchants  of  Dedan,  with  embroidered 
linings  and  rich  cloths  for  chariots,  and  costly  housings 
for  horses,  of  lynx  and  leopard-skins  ;  tall,  grave-looking 
me/  chants  from  our  own  Damascus,  with  elegant  wares, 
cutiery,  and  damascened  sword-blades  of  wonderful 
beauty,  and  which  bring  great  price  here  ;  shrewd- 
visaged  merchants  of  Tyre,  with  purple  and  broidered 
work  and  fine  linen  ;  and  merchants  of  Sidon,  with  em 
eralds,  coral,  and  agate,  and  the  valuable  calmine-stone 
out  of  which,  in  combination  with  copper,  brass  is 
molten  by  the  Egyptians. 

There  were  also  merchants,  in  an  attire  rich  and  pic 
turesque,  from  many  isles  of  the  sea,  with  vessels  of 
bronze,  vases,  and  other  exquisitely  painted  wares,  and 
boxes  inlaid  with  ivory,  jewels,  and  ebony.  I  saw  the 
dark,  handsome  men  of  Tarshish  and  far  Gades,  with  all 
kinds  ef  riches  of  silver,  iron,  tin,  lead,  and  scales  of 
gold.  Shields  from  Arvad,  beautifully  embossed  and 
inlaid  ;  helmets  and  shawls  from  Persia ;  ivory  from 
Ind,  and  boxes  of  precious  stones — the  jasper,  the  sap 
phire,  the  sardiiis,  the  onyx,  the  beryl,  the  topaz,  the 
carbuncle,  and  the  diamond — from  the  south  seas,  and 
those  lands  under  the  sun,  where  he  casts  no  shadow. 
There  were,  also,  wild-looking  merchant  horsemen  from 
Arabia,  with  horses  and  mules  to  be  traded  for  the  fine 
linen,  and  gilt  wares,  and  dyes  of  Egypt ;  and  proud- 
looking  shepherd  chiefs  of  Kedar,  with  flocks  of  lambs, 
rams,  and  goats ;  while  beyond  these,  some  merchants 


220-  THE    PILLAR   OF    FIRE,    OR 

of  Sais,  men  of  stern  aspects,  had  bands  of  slaves,  whose 
shining  black  skins  and  glittering  teeth  showed  them  to 
be  Nubians  from  Farther  Africa,  who  had  been  brought 
from  the  Upper  Nile  to  be  sold  in  the  mart. 

Thus  does  all  the  earth  lay  its  riches  at  the  feet  of 
Egypt,  even  as  she  pours  them  into  the  lap  of  Tyre. 
Meet  it  is  that  two  nations,  so  equal  in  commerce,  should 
be  allied  in  friendship.  May  this  friendly  alliance,  more 
closely  cemented  by  my  visit  to  this  court,  never  be 
broken !  I  am  willing  to  surrender  to  Egypt  the  title, 
<  "  Mistress  of  the  World,"  which  I  have  seen  inscribed 
on  the  obelisk  that  Amense  is  now  erecting,  so  long  as 
she  makes  no  attempt  upon  our  cherished  freedom,  nor 
asks  of  us  other  tribute  to  her  greatness  than  the  jew 
elled  necklace  it  was  my  pleasure  to  present  to  her 
queen,  from  your  hand. 

Having  crossed  this  wonderful  mart  of  the  world,  we 
issued  upon  a  broad  street,  which  diverging  to  the  right 
led  towards  Jizeh,  not  far  distant,  and  to  the  left  towards 
Memphis,  the  noble  pylon  of  which  was  in  full  sight. 
The  street  was  lined  with  small  temples,  six  on  each 
side,  dedicated  to  the  twelve  gods  of  the  months,  statues 
of  each  of  whom  stood  upon  pedestals  before  its  gate 
way. 

Tin's  avenue,  which  was  but  a  succession  of  columns 
and  statues,  and  in  which  we  met  several  pleasure- 
chariots,  terminated  at  an  obelisk  one  hundred  feet  in 
height — a  majestic  and  richly  elaborated  monument, 
erected  by  Amunophis  I.,  whose  name  it  bears  upon  a 
cartouch, '  to  the  honor  of  his  Syrian  queen,  Ephtha. 
Upon  its  surface  is  recounted,  in  exquisitely  colored  in 
taglio  hieroglyphs,  her  virtues  and  the  deeds  of  his  own 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  221 

reign.  At  each  of  its  four  corners  crouches  a  sphinx, 
with  a  dog's  head,  symbolic  of  ceaseless  vigilance.  A 
noble  square  surrounds  the  obelisk,  and  on  its  west  side 
is  the  propylon  of  Memphis.  The  great  wings  that 
inclose  the  pylon  are  ninety  feet  in  height,  and  are 
resplendent  with  colored  pictorial  designs,  done  in  the 
most  brilliant  style  of  Egyptian  art. 

Here  we  found  a  guard  of  soldiers,  whose  captain 
received  the  prince  with  marks  of  the  profoundest  mili 
tary  respect.  We  passed  in,  through  ranks  of  soldiers, 
who  bent  one  knee  to  the  ground,  and  entered  the  chief 
street  of  Memphis — the  second  city  in  Egypt  in  archi 
tectural  magnificence,  and  the  first  in  religious  impor 
tance,  as  the  city  of  the  sacred  bull  Apis. 

A  description  of  this  city  would  be  almost  a  repetition 
of  that  of  On,  slightly  varying  the  avenues,  squares, 
and  forms  of  temples.  You  have,  therefore,  to  imagine, 
or  rather  recall,  the  splendor  of  the  "  City  of  the  Lord 
of  the  Sun"  (for  this  is  its  true  Egyptian  designation), 
and  appply  to  Memphis  the  picture  hitherto  given  of 
that  gorgeous  metropolis  of  Osiris. 

After  we  had  passed  a  few  squares  through  the 
thronged  and  handsome  street,  which  was  exclusively 
filled  with  beautiful  and  tasteful  abodes  of  priests, 
adorned  with  gardens  and  corridors,  we  came  to  a  large 
open  space  in  the  city,  where  was  a  great  fountain, 
surrounded  by  lions  sculptured  in  gray  porphyry  stone. 
On  one  side  of  this  square  was  a  lake,  bordered  with 
trees  ;  on  another,  a  grove  sacred  to  certain  mysteries ; 
on  a  third,  a  temple  dedicated  to  all  the  sacred  animals 
of  Egypt, — images  of  which  surrounded  a  vast  portico 
in  front.  An  enumeration  of  them  will  exhibit  to  you, 


222  THE   PILLAR   OF   F1KE,    OH 

how  the  first  departure,  in  ancient  days,  from  the  wor 
ship  of  the  One  Deity,  by  personating  His  attributes  in 
animal  forms,  has  converted  religion  into  a  gross  and 
sensual  superstition.  It  is  not  enough  that  they  have 
fanciful  emblems  in  all  their  temples,  and  on  all  theii 
sculptured  monuments,  of  Life,  Goodness,  Power,  Purity, 
Majesty,  and  Dominion  (as  in  the  crook  and  flail  of  Osi 
ris),  of  Authority,  of  Royalty,  of  Stability;  but  they 
elevate  into  representatives  of  the  gods,  the  ape,  sacred 
to  Thoth  ;  the  monkey  ;  the  fox,  dog,  wolf,  and  jackal,  all 
four  sacred  to  Anubis ;  the  ichneumon  and  cat,  which 
last  is  superstitiously  reverenced,  and  when  dead  em 
balmed  with  divine  rites.  The  ibex,  which  I  once  be 
lieved  to  be  sacred,  is  regarded  only  as  an  emblem  ;  and 
so  with  the  horse,  ass,  panther,  and  leopard,  which  are 
not  sacred,  but  merely  used  in  sculptures  as  emblems. 
The  hippopotamus  is  sacred,  and  also  an  emblem  of  Ty 
phon,  dedicated  to  the  god  of  war.  The  cow  is  held 
eminently  sacred  by  the  Egyptians,  and  is  dedicated  to 
the  deity  Athor. 

There  are  four  sacred  bulls  in  Egypt, — nor  only  sacred, 
but  deified.  In  Middle  Egypt,  Onuphis  and  Basis  are 
worshipped  in  superb  temples ;  and  at  On,  Mnevis, 
sacred  to  the  Sun.  Here  in  Memphis  is  Apis,  not  only 
sacred  but  a  god,  and  type  of  Osiris,  who,  in  his  turn, 
is  the  type  of  the  Sun,  w^liich  is  the  type  of  the  Infinite 
Invisible ;  at  least  this  is  the  formula,  so  far  as  I  have 
learned  its  mysteries.  How  much  purer  the  religion, 
dear  mother,  which,  passing  by  or  overleaping  all  these 
intermediate  types  and  incarnations,  prostrates  the  soul 
before  the  footstool  of  the  Lord  of  the  S*\  Himself,  the 
One  Spiritual  God  of  gods ! 


ISRAEL    IN   BONDAGE.  223 

Of  all  the  sacred  animals  above  named,  I  beheld 
images  in  stone  upon  the  dromos  which  bordered  the 
portico.  There  were  also  figures  of  the  sacred  birds, — 
as  the  ibis,  sacred  to  the  god  Thoth ;  the  vulture,  the 
falcon-hawk,  sacred  to  Re,  and  honored  in  the  city  of 
On ;  and  the  egret,  sacred  to  Osiris.  Besides  these 
sacred  figures  which  decorated  this  pantheonic  portico, 
at  each  of  the  four  gates  was  one  of  the  four  deified 
bulls  in  stone,  larger  than  life-size.  There  are  also  to 
be  found,  all  over  Egypt,  sculptured  sphinxes, — a  sort 
of  fabulous  monster,  represented  either  with  the  head 
of  a  man,  a  hawk,  or  a  ram;  to  these  may  be  added  a 
vulture  writh  a  serpent's  head,  and  a  tortoise-headed 
god. 

The  phoenix,  sacred  to  Osiris,  I  shall  by  and  by  speak 
of,  and  the  white  and  saffron-colored  cock,  sacred  to, 
*and  sacrificed  in,  the  Temple  of  Anubis.  Certain  fishes 
are  also  held  sacred  by  this  extraordinary  people,  who 
convert  every  thing  into  gods.  The  oxyrhincus,  the  eel, 
the  lepidotus,  and  others  are  sacred,  and  at  Thebes  are 
embalmed  by  the  priests.  The  scorpion  is  an  emblem 
of  the  goddess  Selk,  the  frog  of  Pthah,  and  the  unwieldy 
crocodile  sacred  to  the  god  Savak — a  barbarous  deity. 
Serpents  having  human  heads,  and  also  hawk's  and 
lion's  heads,  were  sculptured  along  the  frieze  of  this 
pantheon,  intermingled  with  figures  of  nearly  all  the 
above  sacred  animals.  On  the  abacus  of  each  column 
was  sculptured  the  scarabaeus — the  sacred  beetle — con 
secrated  to  Pthah,  and  adopted  as  an  emblem  of  the 
world ;  also  the  type  of  the  god  Hor-hat,  the  Good 
Genius  of  Egypt,  whose  emblem  is  a  sun  supported  by 
two  winged  asps  encircling  it.  Flies,  ichneumons,  and 


OR 


bees,  with  many  other  insects  and  animals,  are  repre 
sented  in  the  sculptures,  but  are  not  sacred. 

Even  vegetables  do  not  escape  the  service  of  their 
religion.  The  persea  is  sacred  to  Athor  ;  the  ivy  to 
Osiris,  and  much  made  use  of  at  his  festivals  ;  the 
feathery  tamarisk  is  also  sacred  to  this  deity  ;  and  the 
peach  and  papyrus  are  supposed  to  be  sacred,  or  at  least 
used,  for  religious  purposes.  Contrary  to  the  opinion  I 
formed  when  I  first  came  into  Egypt,  the  onion,  leek, 
and  garlic  are  not  sacred.  The  pomegranate,  vine,  and 
acanthus  are  used  for  sacred  rites,  and  the  sycamore-fig 
is  sacred  to  Netpe.  The  lotus,  the  favorite  object  of 
imitation  in  all  temple-sculpture,  is  sacred  to,  and  the 
emblem  of,  the  most  ancient  god  of  Egypt,  whom  the 
priests  call  Nofiratmoosis  —  a  name  wTholly  new  to  me* 
among  the  deities  ;  —  but  it  is  also  clearly  a  favorite 
emblem  of  Osiris,  being  found  profusely  sculp'  ured  on 
all  his  temples.  Lastly,  the  palm-branch  is  a  symbol  of 
astrology  and  type  of  the  year,  and  conspicuous  among 
the  offerings  made  to  the  gods. 

Now,  my  dear  mother,  can  you  wonder  /tt  Prince 
Hemeses  —  that  a  man  of  his  learning,  intol/oct,  sensi 
bility,  and  sound  .judgment,  should  turn  ?;,T,ray  from 
these  thousand  contemptible  gods  of  Egypt,  to  seek  a 
purer  faith  and  worship,  and  that  he  should  wish  to 
give  his  people  a  more  elevating  and  spiritual  religion? 
Divisions  and  subdivisions  have  here  reached  their 
climax,  an  I  the  Egyptians  who  worship  God  in  every 
thing  may  be  said  to  have  ceased  to  worship  him 
at  all  ! 

What  was  on  the  fourth  side  of  the  great  square,  of 
which  the  lake,  the  grove,  and  the  pantheon  composed 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  225 

three,  was  the  central  and  great  Temple  of  Apis  in 
Lower  Egypt.  In  my  next  letter  I  will  describe  my 
visit  to  it.  I  am  at  present  a  guest  of  the  high-priest 
of  the  temple,  and  hence  the  date  of  my  letter  at 
Memphis. 

Your  affectionate  son, 

SESOSTRIS. 
100 


220  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 


LETTEK    XIY. 

THE  PALACE  OP  THE  PEIEST  OP  APIS. 
MY  DEAR  MOTHER: 

I  WILL  now  describe  to  you  my  visit,  with  the 
prince,  to  the  most  remarkable  shrine  in  Egypt.  While 
the  worship  of  Osiris,  at  On,  is  a  series  of  splendid 
pageantries,  but  little  differing  from  the  gorgeous  sun- 
worship  which  you  witnessed  some  years  ago  at  Baal- 
bee,  the  rites  of  Apis  are  as  solemn  and  severe  as  the 
temple  in  which  they  are  celebrated  is  grand  and 
majestic. 

The  temple  itself  is  a  massive  and  imposing  edifice, 
of  reddish  Elephantine  stone.  It  is  of  vast  proportions, 
and  the  effect  produced  is  that  of  a  mountain  of  rock 
hewn  into  a  temple,  as  travellers  say  temples  are  cut 
out  of  the  face  of  cliffs  in  Idumea- Arabia.  Its  expres 
sion  is  majesty  and  grandeur.  It  occupies  the  whole  of 
one  side  of  the  vast  square  described  by  me  in  my  last 
letter. 

As  we  were  about  to  ascend  to  the  gate,  I  was  startled 
by  a  loud  and  menacing  cry  from  many  voices,  and, 
looking  around,  perceived  a  Tyrian  mariner,  recognized 
by  me  as  such  by  his  dress,  who  was  flying  across  the 
square  with  wings  of  fear.  A  crowd,  which  momenta 
rily  increased,  pursued- him  swiftly  with  execrations  and 


ISRAEL    IN   BONDAGE.  227 

cries  of  vengeance !  As  he  drew  near,  I  noticed  that 
he  was  as  pale  as  a  corpse.  Seeing  that  he  was  a 
Phoenician,  I  felt  interested  in  him,  and  by  a  gesture 
drew  him  towards  me.  He  fell  at  my  feet,  crying — 
uSave  me,  O  my  prince !" 

"  What  hast  thou  done  ?"  I  demanded. 

"  Only  killed  one  of  their  cats,  my  lord  !" 

The  throng  came  rushing  on,  like  a  stormy  wave, 
uttering  fearful  cries. 

"  May  I  try  and  protect  him,  O  Remeses,"  I  asked, 
for  I  knew  that,  if  taken,  he  would  be  slain  for  destroy 
ing  one  of  their  sacred  animals. 

"  1  will  see  if  I  can  ;  but  I  fear  my  interposition  will 
not  be  heeded  in  a  case  like  this,"  he  replied.  At  the 
same  time  he  deprecatingly  waved  his  hand  to  the  infu 
riated  populace,  which  had  in  a  few  moments  increased 
to  a  thousand  people. 

"  No,  not  even  for  the  prince !  He  has  killed  a 
sacred  animal.  By  our  laws  he  also  must  die.  We  will 
sacrifice, him  to  the  gods!" 

In  vain  I  entreated,  and  Remeses  interposed.  The 
wretched  man  was  torn  from  our  presence  by  as  many 
hands  as  could  seize  him,  thrown  down  the  steps  of  the 
temple,  and  trampled  upon  by  the  furious  crowd,  until 
nothing  like  a  human  shape  remained.  The  formless 
mass  was  then  divided  into  pieces,  and  carried  to  a 
temple  where  numerous  sacred  cats  are  kept,  in  order 
to  be  given  to  them  to  devour.  Such  is  the  terrible 
death  they  inflict  upon  one  who  by  accident  kills  a  cat 
or  an  ibis ! 

"The  power  of  the  State  is  weak  when  contending 
with  the  mad  strength  of  superstition,"  remarked  Re- 


228  THE  PILLAE  OF  FIRE,  OR 

meses,  as  we  entered  the  temple  between  two  statuet  of 
brazen  bulls.  Entering  through  a  majestic  doorway, 
we  came  into  an  avenue  of  vast  columns,  the  size  of 
which  impressed  me  with  awe.  The  temple  was  origi 
nally  erected  to  Pthali,  anciently  the  chief  deity  oi 
Memphis,  and  dedicated  in  the  present  reign  to  the 
sacred  bull,  whose  apartment  is  the  original  adytum  of 
the  temple. 

The  worship  of  Apis  and  Mnevis,  the  bulls  conse 
crated  to  Osiris,  exhibits  the  highest  point  to  which  the 
worship  of  animals  in  Egypt  has  reached,  and  it  was  writh 
no  little  interest  I  felt  myself  advancing  into  the  pres 
ence  of  this  deified  animal.  We  were  met,  at  the  en 
trance  of  the  avenue  of  columns,  by  two  priests  in  white 
linen  robes,  over  which  was  a  crimson  scarf,  the  sacred 
color  of  Apis.  They  had  tall  caps  on  their  heads,  and 
each  carried  a  sort  of  crook.  They  received  the  prince 
with  prostrations.  Going  one  before  and  one  behind  us, 
they  escorted  us  along  the  gloomy  and  solemn  avenue  of 
sculptured  columns,  until  we  came  to  a  brazen  door.  A 
priest  opened  it,  and  we  entered  a  magnificent  peristyle 
court  supported  by  caryatides  twelve  cubits  in  height, 
representing  the  forms  of  Egyptian  women.  We  re 
mained  in  this  grand  hall  a  few  moments,  when  a  door 
on  the  opposite  side  opened  and  the  sacred  bull  ap 
peared.  He  was  conducted  by  a  priest,  who  led  him 
by  a  gold  chain  fastened  to  his  horns,  which  were  gar 
landed  with  flowers.  The  animal  was  large,  noble-look 
ing,  and  jet-black  in  color,  with  the  exception  of  a 
square  spot  of  white  upon  his  forehead.  Upon  his 
shoulder  was  the  resemblance  of  a  vulture,  and  the  hairs 
were  double  in  his  tail !  These  being  the  sacred  marks 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  229 

of  Apis,  I  observed  them  particularly  :  there  should  be 
also  the  mark  of  a  scarabseus  on  his  tongue. 

The  deity  stalked  proudly  forth,  slowly  heaving  up 
and  down  his  huge  head  and  thick  neck, — a  look  of 
barbaric  power  and  grandeur  glancing  from  his  eye. 

The  curator  of  the  sacred  animal  led  him  once  around 
the  hall,  the  Egyptians  prostrating  themselves  as  he 
passed  them,  and  even  Remeses,  instinctively,  from 
custom,  bending  his  head.  When  he  stopped,  the 
prince  advanced  to  him,  and  taking  a  jewelled  collar 
from  a  casket  which  he  brought  with  him,  he  said  to 
the  high-priest — who,  with  a  censer  of  incense,  prepared 
to  invoke  the  god — 

"  My  lord  priest  of  Apis :  I,  Remeses  the  prince,  as 
a  token  of  my  gratitude  to  the  god,  of  whom  the  satred 
bull  is  the  emblem,  for  the  restoration  of  my  mother, 
the  queen,  do  make  to  the  temple  an  offering  of  this 
jewelled  collar  for  the  sacred  bull." 

"His  sacred  majesty,  my  lord  prince,  accepts,  with 
condescension  and  grace,  your  offering,"  answered  the 
gorgeously  attired  high-priest.  He  then  passed  the  neck 
lace  through  the  cloud  of  incense  thrice,  and  going  up 
to  the  bull,  fastened  the  costly  gift  about  his  neck, 
already  decorated  with  the  price  of  a  kingdom,  while 
his  forehead  glittered  like  a  mass  of  diamonds.  A  cool 
draft  of  wind  passing  through  the  open  hall,  a  priest 
(at  least  two  hundred  attendant  priests  were  assembled 
there  to  witness  the  prince's  offering)  brought  a  cover 
ing  or  housing  of  silver  and  gold  tissue,  magnificently 
embroidered,  and  threw  it  over  the  god. 

The  prince  now,  at  the  request  of  the  queen,  pro 
ceeded  to  obtain  an  omen  as  to  the  success  of  his  army. 


230  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

He  therefore  approached  and  offered  the  bull  a  peculiar 
cake,  of  which  he  is  very  fond,  which  the  animal  took 
from  his  palm  and  ate.  At  this  good  omen  there  was  a 
murmur  of  satisfaction ;  for  a  refusal  to  eat  is  accounted 
a  bad  omen.  Hemeses  smiled  as  if  gratified.  Could  it 
be  that  he  had  faith  in  the  omen  ?  I  know  not.  Much 
must  be  allowed  to  the  customs  of  a  lifetime !  Trained 
to  all  these  rituals  from  a  child,  had  the  philosophy  of 
his  later  years  wholly  destroyed  in  him  all  faith  and  con 
fidence  in  the  gods  of  his  mother  and  his  country  ?  The 
priest  now  asked  a  question  aloud,  addressed  to  the  god : 

"  Will  the  Prince  of  Egypt,  O  sacred  Apis,  be  a  suc 
cessful  king,  when  he  shall  come  to  the  throne  ?" 

The  reply  to  the  question  was  to  be  found  in  the  first 
wo»ds  Remeses  should  hear  spoken  by  any  one  when  he 
left  the  temple.  He  immediately  departed  from  the 
peristyle,  and  we  returned  through  the  solemn  avenue 
to  the  portico.  As  we  descended  the  steps,  a  seller  of 
small  images  of  the  bull  called  out,  in  reply  to  some 
thing  said  by  another — 

"  He  will  never  get  there  !" 

"  Mark  those  words,  Sesostris  !"  he  said,  not  unim 
pressed  by  them ;  "  my  mother  is  to  outlive  me,  or 
(Moeris  will  seize  the  throne  from  me !" 

"  Do  you  put  faith  in  this  omen  ?" 

"  I  know  not  what  to  answer  you,  my  Sesostris.  You 
have,  no  doubt,"  he  added,  "  after  all  I  have  said,  mar 
velled  at  my  offering  to  Apis.  But  it  is  hard  to  destroy 
early  impressions,  even  with  philosophy,  especially  if  the 
mind  has  no  certain  revelation  to  cling  to,  when  it  casts 
off  its  superstitions.  But  here  I  must  leave  you,  at  the 
door  of  the  hierarch's  palace.  This  noble  priest  is  head 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  231 

of  the  priesthood  of  Pthah,  a  part  of  whose  temple,  as 
you  have  seen,  is  devoted  to  Apis, — or  rather  the  two 
temples  subsist  side  by  side.  You  saw  him  last  week  at 
our  palace.  He  has  asked  you  to  be  his  guest  while 
here.  Honor  his  invitation,  and  he  will  not  only  teach 
you  much  that  you  desire  to  know,  but  will  visit  with 
you  the  great  pyramidal  temple  of  Cheops." 

Having  entered  the  palace,  and  placed  me  under  the 
hospitality  of  the  noble  Egyptian  hierarch  therein,  the 
prince  took  leave  of  me.  I  would  like  to  describe  to 
you  the  taste  and  elegance  of  this  abode,  my  dear  mother ; 
its  gardens,  fountains,  flower-courts,  paintings,  and  rich 
furniture.  But  I  must  first  say  a  little  more  about  the 
god  Apis,  who  holds  so  prominent  a  place  in  the  my 
thology  of  Egypt.  In  the  hieroglyphic  legends  he  is 
called  Ilapi,  and  his  figurative  sign  on  the  monuments 
is  a  bull  with  a  globe  of  the  sun  upon  his  head,  and  the 
hieroglyphic  cruciform  emblem  of  Life  drawn  near  it. 
Numerous  bronze  figures  of  this  bull  are  cast,  whereupon 
they  are  consecrated,  distributed  over  Egypt,  and  placed 
in  the  tombs  of  the  priests.  The  time  to  which  the  sacred 
books  limit  the  life  of  Apis  is  twenty-five  years,  which 
is  a  mystic  number  here  ;  and  if  his  representative  does 
not  die  a  natural  death  by  that  time,  he  is  driven  to  the 
great  fountain  of  the  temple,  where  the  priests  were  ac 
customed  to  bathe  him  (for  he  is  fed  and  tended  with 
the  greatest  delicacy,  luxury,  and  servility  by  his  priestly 
curators),  and  there,  with  hymns  chanted  and  incense 
burning,  they  drown  him  amid  many  rites  and  ceremo 
nies,  all  of  which  are  written  in  the  forty-two  books  of 
papyrus  kept  in  the  sacred  archives  of  the  oldest  temple. 

~No  sooner  does  the  god  expire,  than  certain  priests, 


232 

who  are  selected  for  the  purpose,  go  in  search  of  some 
other  bull ;  for  they  believe  that  the  soul  of  Osiris  has 
migrated  into  another  body  of  one  of  these  animals,  or 
"  Lords  of  Egypt,"  as  I  have  heard  them  called.  This 
belief  of  the  constant  transfer  of  himself  by  Osiris  from 
the  body  of  one  bull  to  another,  is  but  the  expression  of 
a  popular  notion  here,  that  souls  of  men  transmigrate 
from  body  to  body ;  and  my  opinion  is  confirmed  by  a 
scene  depicted  in  the  judgment-hall  of  Osiris,  where  the 
god  is  represented  as  sending  a  soul,  whose  evil  deeds 
outweighed  his  good  ones,  back  to  earth,  and  condem 
ning  it  to  enter  the  body  of  a  hog,  and  so  begin  anew, 
from  the  lowest  animal  condition,  to  rise  by  successive 
transmigrations  through  other  beasts,  higher  ard  higher, 
until  he  became  man  again,  when,  if  he  had  acquired 
virtue  in  his  probation,  he  was  admitted  to  the  houses 
of  the  gods  and  became  immortal. 

The  prince  assures  me  that  the  belief  in  the  transmi 
gration  of  souls  is  almost  universal  in  the  Thebai'd,  as 
well  as  among  the  lower  orders  in  the  northern  pomes; 
and  that  the  universal  reverence  for  animals  is,  without 
doubt,  in  a  great  measure  to  be  traced  to  this  sentiment. 
A  monstrous  doctrine  of  the  perpetual  incarnation  of 
deity  in  the  form,  not  of  man,  but  of  the  brute,  seems  to 
be  the  groundwork  of  all  religious  faith  in  Egypt.  This 
idea  is  the  key  to  the  mysteries,  inconsistencies,  and 
grossness  of  their  outward  worship ;  the  interpreter  of 
their  animal  Pantheon. 

"  There  is  a  tradition,"  said  to  me,  to-day,  the  prince- 
priest  Misrai,  with  whom  I  am  now  remaining,  "  that 
when  Osiris  came  down  to  earth,  in  order  to  benefit  the 
human  race  by  teaching  them  the  wisdom  of  the  gods, 


ISRAEL    IN   BONDAGE.  233 

evil  men,  the  sons  of  Typhon,  pursued  to  destroy  him, 
when  he  took  refuge  in  the  body  of  a  bull,  who  protected 
and  concealed  him.  After  his  return  to  the  heavens,  he 
ordained  that  divine  honors  should  be  paid  to  the  bull 
forever." 

This  account,  my  dear  mother,  is  a  more  satisfactory 
myth  than  any  other,  if  any  can  be  so ;  and  recognizes 
incarnation  as  the  principle  of  the  worship  of  Apis. 
This  universal  idea  in  the  minds  of  men,  that  the  Crea 
tor  once  dwelt  in  the  body  of  a  creature,  would  lead  one 
to  believe,  that  in  ages  past  the  Infinite  had  descended 
from  heaven  for  the  good  of  men,  and  dwelt  in  a  body  ; 
or  that,  responding  to  this  universal  idea,  he  may  yet  do 
TE  Perhaps,  dear  mother,  the  worship  of  Osiris  under 
the  form  of  Apis,  may  be  the  foreshadowing  and  type 
of  what  is  yet  really  to  come— a  dispensation,  preparing 
men  for  the  actual  coming  of  the  Invisible  in  a  visible 
form.  What  a  day  of  glory  and  splendor  for  earth, 
should  this  prove  true  !  The  conception,  dear  mother, 
is  not  ray  own ;  it  is  a  thought  of  the  great,  and  wise, 
and  good  Kemeses,  who,  if  ever  men  are  deified,  de 
serves  a  place,  after  death,  among  the  gods.  His  vast 
and  earnest  mind,  enriched  with  all  the  stores  of  know! 
edge  that  man  can  compass,  seems  as  if  it  derived  in 
spiration  from  the  heavens.  His  conversation  is  deeper 
than  the  sacred  books ;  the  ideas  of  his  s0ul  more  won 
derful  than  the  mysteries  of  the  temple  ! 

The  priests  who  seek  another  bull,  discover  him  by 
certain  signs  mentioned  in  their  sacred  books.  These  I 
have  already  described.  In  the  mean  wrhile,  a  public 
lamentation  is  performed,  as  if  Osiris,  that  is,  "  the  Lord 
of  Heaven,"  had  died,  and  the  mourning  lasts  until  the 


234-  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

Hew  Apis  is  found.  This  information  is  proclaimed  by 
swift  messengers  in  all  the  cities,  and  is  hailed  with  the 
wildest  rejoicings.  The  scribes  who  have  found  the 
young  calf  which  is  to  be  the  new  god,  keep  it  with  its 
mother  in  a  small  temple  facing  the  rising  sun,  and  feed 
it  with  milk  for  four  months.  When  that  term  is  ex 
pired,  a  grand  procession  of  priests,  scribes,  prophets, 
and  interpreters  of  omens,  headed  by  the  high-priest, 
and  often  by  the  king,  as  hereditary  priest  of  his  realm, 
proceed  to  the  temple  or  house  of  the  sacred  calf,  at  the 
time  of  the  new  moon — the  slender  and  delicate  horns 
of  which  symbolize  those  of  the  juvenile  Apis.  "With 
chants  and  musical  instruments  playing,  they  escort  him 
to  a  gorgeously  decorated  ~baris  or  barge,  rowed  by 
twelve  oars,  and  place  him  in  a  gilded  cabin  on  costly 
mats.  They  then  convey  him  in  great  pomp  and  with 
loud  rejoicings  to  Memphis.  Here  the  whole  city  re 
ceives  him  with  trumpets  blowing  and  shouts  of  wel 
come  ;  garlands  are  cast  upon  his  neck  by  young  girls, 
and  flowers  strewed  before  him  by  the  virgins  of  the 
temple. 

Thus  escorted,  the  "Living  Soul  of  Osiris"  is  con 
ducted  to  the  temple  provided  for  him,  which  is  now,  as 
I  have  before  observed,  an  appendage  to  the  Temple  of 
Pthah  or  Yulcan,  an  edifice  remarkable  for  its  architec 
tural  beauty ,\ its  extent,  and  the  richness  of  its  decora 
tions  ;  indeed,  the  most  magnificent  temple  in  the  city. 
A  festival  of  many  days  succeeds,  and  the  young  deity 
is  then  led  in  solemn  procession  throughout  the  city, 
that,  all  the  people  may  see  him.  These  come  out  of 
their  houses  to  welcome  him,  with  gifts,  as  he  passes. 
Mothers  press  their  children  forward  towards  the  sacred 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  235 

animal  that  they  may  receive  his  breath  which,  they 
believe,  conveys  the  power  to  them  of  predicting  future 
events.  Returned  to  his  sacred  adytum,  he  henceforth 
reigns  as  a  god,  daintily  fed,  and  reverently  served. 
Pleasure-gardens  and  rooms  for  recreation  are  provided 
for  him  when  he  would  exercise. 

At  the  death  of  Apis,  all  the  priests  are  immediately 
excluded  from  the  temple,  which  is  given  up  to  profound 
solitude  and  silence,  as  if  it  also  mourned,  in  solemn 
desolation,  -the  loss  of  its  god.  His  obsequies  are  cele 
brated  on  a  scale  of  grandeur  and  expenditure  hardly 
conceivable.  Sometimes  the  rich  treasury  of  the  tem 
ple,  though  filled  with  the  accumulated  gold  of  a  quarter 
of  a  century,  is  exhausted.  Upon  the  death  of  the  last 
Apis,  the  priests  expended  one  hundred  talents  of  geld 
in  his  obsequies,  and  .Prince  Moeris,  who  seeks  every 
opportunity  to  make  a  show  of  piety,  and  to  please  the 
Egyptians,  gave  them  fifty  talents  more,  to  enable  them 
to  defray  the  enormous  costs  of  the  funeral  of  the  god. 

The  burial-place  of  the  Serapis,  as  the  name  is  on  the 
mausoleum  (formed  by  pronouncing  together  Osiris- 
Apis),  is  outside  of  the  western  pylon  of  the  city.  We 
approached  it  through  a  paved  avenue,  with  lions  ranged 
on  each  side  of  it.  It  consists  of  a  vast  gallery,  hewn  in  a 
rocky  spur  of  the  Libyan  cliff,  twenty  feet  in  height,  and 
two  thousand  long.  I  visited  this  tomb  yesterday,  accom 
panied  by  the  high-priest.  He  showed  me  the  series  of 
chambers  on  the  sides  of  this  sepulchral  hall,  where  each 
embalmed  Apis  was  deposited  in  a  sarcophagus  of 
granite  fifteen  feet  in  length.  There  were  sixty  of  these 
sarcophagi,  showing  the  permanency  and  age  of  this 
system  of  worship.  They  were  adorned  with  royal 


236  THE   TILLAR   OF    FIRE    OR, 

ovals,  inscribed,  or  with  tablets  containing  dedications, 
to  Apis.  One  of  these  bore  the  inscription,  "  To  the 
god  Osiris-Apis,  the  Lord  of  the  Soul  of  Osiris,  and 
emblem  of  the  Sun,  by  Amense,  Queen  and  upholder 
of  the  two  kingdoms." 

In  front  of  the  sculptured  entrance  of  this  hall  of  the 
dead  god  is  the  Sarapeum,  a  funeral  temple  for  perpetual 
obsequies.  It  has  a  vestibule  of  noble  proportions,  its 
columns  being  of  the  delicately  blue-veined  alabaster 
from  the  quarries  in  the  south.  On  each  side  of  the 
doorway  is  a  crouching  lion,  with  a  tablet  above  one,  upon 
which  a  king  is  represented  making  an  offering.  Within 
the  vestibule  stand,  in  half  circle,  twelve  statues  of  ancient 
kings.  In  a  circle  above  these  sit,  with  altars  before  each, 
as  many  gods.  Upon  a  pedestal  in  the  centre  stands  the 
statue  of  the  Pharaoh  who  erected  this  beautiful  edifice. 

Thus,  my  clear  mother,  have  I  endeavored,  as  yon 
requested,  to  present  before  your  mind  a  clear  view  of 
the  system  of  theology,  and  the  forms  of  worship  of  the 
Egyptians.  To  evolve  from  the  contradictory  and 
vague  traditions  a  reasonable  faith ;  to  select  from  the 
countless  myths  a  dominating  idea ;  to  separate  the  true 
from  the  false,  to  bring  harmony  out  of  what,  regarded 
as  a  whole,  is  confusion ;  t<3  know  what  is  local,  what 
national  in  rites,  and  to  reconcile  all  the  theories  of 
Osiris  with  one  another,  is  a  task  far  from  easy  to  per 
form.  At  first,  I  believed  I  should  never  be  able  to 
arrive  at  any  system  in  these  multifarious  traditions  and 
usages,  hut  I  think  that  my  researches  have  given  me 
an  insight  into  the  difficulties  of  their  religion,  and 
enabled  me,  in  a  great  measure,  to  unravel  the  tangled 
thread  of  their  mythology. 


ISKAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  237 

I  will  now  resume  my  pen,  which,  since  writing  the 
above,  I  laid  down  to  partake  of  a  banquet  with  the 
priest,  my  princely  host,  at  which  I  met  many  of  the 
great  lords  of  Memphis,  namely — the  lord-keeper  of  the 
royal  signet,  the  lord  of  the  wardrobe  i,nd  rings  of  the 
queen's,  palace,  and  the  lord  of  the  treasury.  These 
men  of  rank  I  well  knew,  having  met  them  before  at  the 
table  of  the  queen.  There  were  also  strangers  whom  I 
had  not  met  before — men  of  elegant  address,  and  in  rich 
apparel,  each  with  the  signet  of  his  office  on  his  left 
hand ;  among  others,  the  lord  of  the  nilometer,  who 
reports  the  progress  of  the  elevation  of  the  river  in  the 
annual  overflows,  and  by  which  all  Lower  Egypt  is 
governed  in  its  agricultural  work ;  the  president  of  the 
engravers  on  hard  stones,  an  officer  of  trust  and  high 
honor ;  the  governors  of  several  nomes,  in  their  gold 
collars  and  chains  ;  the  lord  of  the  house  of  silver ;  the 
president  of  architects  ;  the  lord  of  sculptors  ;  the  presi 
dent  of  the  school  of  art  and  color ;  with  other  men  of 
dignity.  There  were  also  high-priests  of  several  fanes, 
of  Athor,  of  Pthah,  of  Horus,  of  Maut,  and  of  Amun. 
Besides  these  gentlemen,  there  was  a  large  company  of 
noble  ladies,  their  wives  and  daughters,  who  came  to  the 
banquet  by  invitation  of  the  Princess  Nelisa,  the  superb 
and  dark- eyed  wife  of  the  Prince  Hierarch,  and  one  of 
*-he  most  magnificent  and  queenly  women  (next  to  the 
queen  herself)  I  have  seen  in  this  land  of  beautiful 
women. 

It  was  a  splendid  banquet.  The  Lady  Nelisa  pre 
sided  with  matchless  dignity  and  grace.  But  1  have 
already  described  a  banquet  to  you.  This  was  similar 
in  display  and  the  mode  of  entertaining  the  guests. 


238  THE    PILLAR    OF    FIRE,    OR 

I  was  seated  opposite  the  daughter  of  the  Priest  of 
Mars,  of  whose  beauty  I  have  before  spoken.  She  asked 
many  questions,  in  the  most  captivating  way,  about 
Tyre,  and  yourself,  and  the  Phoenician  ladies  generally. 
She  smiled,  and  looked  surprised,  when  I  informed  her 
that  I  was  betrothed  to  the  fair  Princess  Thamonda,  and 
asked  me  if  she  were  as  fair  as  the  women  of  Egypt.  She 
inquired  if  Damascus  had  always  been  a  part  of  Phoe 
nicia,  and  how  large  your  kingdom  was.  When  I  told 
her  that  your  kingdom  wras  composed  of  several  lesser 
kingdoms,  once  independent,  but  now  united  far  east  of 
Libanns,  under  your  crown,  she  inquired  if  you  were  a 
warlike  queen  to  make  such  conquests.  I  replied  that 
this  union  of  the  free  cities  of  Phoenicia,  and  of  the 
cities  of  Coele-Syria  under  your  sceptre,  was  a  voluntary 
one,  partly  for  union  against  the  kings  of  Philistia, 
partly  from  a  desire  to  be  under  so  powerful  and  wise 
a  queen.  She  said  that  if  the  danger  were  passed, 
or  you  were  no  more,  the  kings  of  these  independent 
cities  might  dissolve  the  bonds,  and  so  diminish  the 
splendor  of  the  crown  which  I  was  to  wear.  To  this 
I  replied,  that  to  be  king  of  Tyre  and  its  peninsula 
was  a  glory  that  would  meet  my  ambition.  "  Yes," 
said  she,  fr  for  Tyre  is  the  key  of  the  riches  of  the 
earth !" 

I  repeat  this  conversation,  dear  mother,  in  order  to 
show  you  that  the  high-born  daughters  of  Egypt  are  not 
only  affable  and  sensible,  but  that  they  possess  no  little 
knowledge  of  other  lands,  and  take  an  interest  in  coun 
tries  friendly  to  their  own.  The  grace  and  beauty  of 
•this  maiden,  as  well  as  her  modesty,  rendered  her  con 
versation  attractive  and  pleasing.  She  is  to  become  the 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  239 

wife  of  a  brave  young  captain  of  the  chariot  battalion, 
when  he  returns  from  the  Ethiopian  Avar. 

My  visit  to  the  pyramids  I  will  now  describe,  dear 
mother" although  in  a  letter  to  the  Princess  Thamonda  I 
have  given  a  very  full  account  of  it.  Accompanied  by 
the  hierarch  and  a  few  young  lords — his  friends  and 
mine — we  rode  in  chariots  out  of  the  gate  of  the  city, 
passed  the  guards,  who  made  obeisance  to  the  high- 
priest,  and  entered  upon  an  avenue  (what  noble  avenues 
are  everywhere !)  of  trees  growing  upon  a  raised  and 
terraced  mound  which  bounded  each  side  of  it.  The 
mound  was  emerald-green  with  verdancy,  and  the 
color  of  the  foliage  of  the  palms,  acacias,  and  tamarisk 
trees  was  enriched  by  the  bright  sunshine  as  seen 
through  the  pure  atmosphere.  At  intervals  we  passed 
a  pair  of  obelisks,  or  through  a  grand  pylon  of  granite. 
Then  we  came  to  a  beautiful  lake — the  Lake  of  the 
Dead — where  we  passed  a  procession  of  shrines.  Every 
nome  and  all  large  cities  have  such  a  lake.  I  will  here 
state  its  use,  which,  like  every  thing  in  Egypt,  is  a 
religious  one.  It  is  connected  with  the  passage  of  the 
dead  from  this  world  to  the  next ;  for  the  Egyptians  not 
only  believe  in  a  future  state,  but  that  rewards  or  pun 
ishments  await  the  soul.  When  a  person  of  distinction 
dies,  after  the  second  or  third  day  his  body  is  taken 
charge  of  by  embalmers,  a  class  of  persons  whose  occu 
pation  it  is  to  embalm  the  dead.  They  have  houses  in 
a  quarter  of  the  city  set  apart  for  this  purpose.  Here 
the  friends  of  the  dead  are  shown  three  models  of  a* 
many  different  modes  of  embalmment,  of  which  they 
choose  one,  according  to  the  expense  they  are  willing  to 
incur.  "The  most  honorable  and  most  costly,"  said 


242  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

connection  with  a  slave),  there  could  not  be  a  much 
greater  likeness. 

This  venerable  man,  who  must  be  full  seventy  years 
of  age,  bore  in  his  hand  a  bunch  of  flowers,  inverted 
and  trailing,  in  token  that  his  lord  was  no  more.  He 
was  followed  by  not  less  than  fifty  nnder-gardeners,  four 
or  five  of  whom  had  Hebrew  lineaments,  but  the  rest 
were  Egyptians  and  Persians, — the  latter  celebrated  for 
the  culture  of  flowers,  which  are  so  lavishly  used  here 
in  all  the  ceremonies  of  society  and  rites  of  religion. 

After  them  followed  four  men,  eacli  bearing  aloft  a 
vase  of  gold,  upon  a  sort  of  canopy,  with  other  offerings  ; 
then  came  a  large  bronze  chest,  borne  by  priests,  con 
taining  the  money  left  to  their  temple  by  the  deceased. 
Then,  in  succession,  one  who  bore  his  arms ;  another,  a 
pruning-hook  of  silver ;  another,  his  fans ;  a  fourth,  his 
signets,  jewelled  collars,  and  necklaces,  displayed  upon 
a  cushion  of  blue  silk,  adorned  with  needle-work ;  and 
a  fifth,  the  other  insignia  peculiar  to  a  noble  who  had 
been  intrusted  with  the  supervision  of  all  the  royal  gar 
dens  in  the  Memphite  kingdom. 

Now  came  four  trumpeters  and  a  cymbal-player,  per 
forming  a  martial  air,  in  which  voices  of  men  mingled, 
called  "  The  Hymn  of  Heroes." 

Next  appeared  a  decorated  barge  or  ~baris, — a  small, 
sacred  boat,  carried  by  six  men,  whom  I  saw  elevate  to 
view  the  mysterious  "Eye  of  Osiris ;"  Avhile  others  carried 
a  tray  of  blue  images,  representing  the  deceased  under 
the  form  of  that  god,  also  of  the  sacred  bird  emblematic 
of  the  soul.  Following  these  were  twelve  men,  bearing, 
upon  yokes  balanced  across  the  shoulders,  baskets  and 
cases  filled  with  flowers  and  crystal  bottles  for  libation. 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  243 

Next  were  a  large  company  of  hired  females,  with  fillets 
upon  their  brows,  beating  their  bared  breasts,  and  throw 
ing  dust  upon  their  heads, —  now  lamenting  the  dead,  now 
praising  his  virtues. 

Then  came  the  officiating  priest,  his  sacred  leopard- 
skin  cast  over  his  shoulders,  bearing  in  his  hand  the 
censer  and  vase  of  libation,  and  accompanied  by  his 
attendants  holding  the  various  implements  required  for 
the  occasion.  Behind  this  priest  came  a  car,  without 
wheels,  drawn  by  four  white  oxen  and  seven  men,  yoked 
to  it,  while  beside  them  walked  a  chief  officer,  who 
regulated  the  movements  of  the  procession.  Upon  thi? 
car  was  the  consecrated  boat,  containing  the  ark  01 
hearse.  The  pontiff  of  the  Temple  of  Horns  walked  by 
the  sarcophagus,  which  was  decked  with  flowers,  and 
richly  painted  with  various  emblems.  A  panel,  left  open 
on  one  side,  exposed  to  view  the  head  of  the  mummy. 

Finally  came  the  male  relatives  of  the  dead,  and  his 
friends.  In  his  honor  the  queen's  grand-chamberlain 
and  the  master  of  horse  marched  together  in  silence,  and 
with  solemn  steps,  leaning  on  their  long  sticks.  Other 
men  followed,  whose  rich  dresses,  and  long  walking- 
canes,  which  are  the  peculiar  mark  of  an  Egyptian  gen 
tleman,  showed  them  to  be  persons  of  distinction.  A 
little  in  the  rear  of  these  walked  a  young  man,  who 
dropped  a  lotus-flower  from  a  basket  at  every  few  steps, 
and  closed  the  long  procession. 

In  no  country  but  this,  where  rain  seldom  falls,  and 
it  is^always  pleasant  in  the  open  air,  could  such  a  pro 
cession  safely  appear  bearing  wares  so  delicate  and 
frail.  The  only  danger  to  be  apprehended  is  from 
storms  of  sand  from  the  desert  beyond  the  pyramids,  ol 


the  approach  of  which,  however,  the  atmosphere  gives  a 
sufficient  warning. 

This  letter  is  quite  long  enough,  dear  mother,  and  I 
close  it,  with  wishes  for  your  happiness,  and  assurances 
of  the  filia.t  devotion  of 

Your  son, 

SESOSTKIS. 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  245 


LETTER   XY. 

CITY  OF  MEMPHIS. 

DEAREST  MOTHER: 

YOUR  last  letter,  assuring  me  of  your  health,  and 
that  of  the  Princess  Thamonda,  I  received  by  the  chief 
pilot,  Onothis,  who,  in  his  new  and  handsome  galley, 
reached  the  head  of  the  Delta  two  days  ago.  Thence 
he  came  here  in  his  boat,  his  ship  being  too  large,  in 
the  present  depth  of  water,  to  come  up  to  Memphis. 

I  will  now  continue  the  description  of  the  funeral  of 
"the  lord  of  the  royal  gardens."  When  the  proces 
sion  reached  the  steps  leading  down  to  the  sacred  lake, 
the  hearse  was  borne  upon  a  gilded  and  carved  baris, 
the  consecrated  boat  for  the  dead.  This  was  secured  to 
a  decorated  galley  with  sails  and  oars  and  a  spacious 
cabin,  richly  painted  with  funeral  emblems.  The  friends 
and  relatives  of  the  deceased  embarked  in  other  barges 
in  waiting,  and  to  the  strains  of  wailing  music,  the  pro 
cession,  reverently  joined  by  the  boats  of  several  gentle 
men,  in  gay  apparel,  who  were  fishing  on  the  lake, 
crossed  to  the  other  side.  Reaching  the  opposite  shore, 
it  formed  again,  as  before,  and  moved  down  "  the  Street 
of  the  Tombs,"  crossed  a  narrow  plain,  and  entered  the 
gate  of  the  great  burial-place  of  Memphis.  We  slowly 


M6  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

• 

followed  the  procession ;  and,  alighting  from  the  chariot, 
I  saw  them  take  the  mummy  from  the  sarcophagus  on 
the  car,  arid  place  it  upright  in  a  chamber  of  the  tomb. 
An  assistant  priest  then  sprinkled  all  who  were  present 
with  sacred  water,  and  the  chief-priest  burnt  incense 
before  an  altar  of  the  tomb,  and  poured  libations  upon 
it,  with  other  ceremonies.  To  close  the  scene,  the 
mummy  was  embraced  by  weeping  friends,  and  a  funeral 
dirge  played  by  the  musicians  without,  which  was  wild 
ly  answered  by  the  mourning  wail  of  woe  from  within. 

Driving  around  the  Acherusis  Lake,  under  the  shade 
of  its  solemn  groves,  the  priest  directed  his  charioteer  to 
take  me  in  again  at  the  gate  of  the  tombs.  Reseating 
myself  by  his  side — for  the  chariots  of  the  priests,  as  well 
as  those  of  ladies,  are  provided  with  a  movable  curved 
chair  which  holds  two  persons — we  proceeded  in  a 
direct  line  towards  the  greatest  of  the  three  pyramids 
that  stand  near  Memphis.  We  were  upon  what  is  called 
"The  Sacred  Way."  It  commenced  at  the  gate  of  a 
temple  to  the  god  of  the  winds,  beneath  the  pylon  of 
which  we  passed,  and  extended  nearly  a  league  in  length 
over  a  vast  plain  crowded  with  funeral  temples,  monu 
ments,  mausolean  porticos,  statues,  and  fountains.  All 
the  architectural  magnificence  which  is  found  in  other 
avenues,  seemed  to  be  combined  here  to  form  a  royal 
road  which  has  no  parallel  on  earth  ;  not  even  the  long 
column-lined  approach  to  the  Temple  of  the  Sun,  at  the 
end  of  the  straight  street  in  Damascus,  can  be  compared 
with  it. 

This  noble  thoroughfare,  as  we  drove  slowly  along 
that  I  might  admire  its  grandeur  and  beauty,  was 
thronged  with  people  going  to  and  coming  from  the 


ISRAEL    IN    BONDAGE.  247 

city.  There  were  processions  returning  from  having 
deposited  their  dead  in  one  of  the  many  tombs  which 
covered  the  vast  plain  ;  processions  of  the  humbler 
orders,  with  but  few  signs  of  display  and  wealth,  pro 
ceeding,  with  real  mourners,  to  the  tomb.  There  were 
groups  of  children,  their  hands  filled  with  garlands, 
going  to  place  them  upon  the  sarcophagus  of  a  departed 
parent ;  for  the  custom  of  decorating  the  resting-places 
of  the  dead  with  wreaths  often  renewed,  belongs  to 
Egypt  as  well  as  to  Syria. 

We  overtook  a  rich  lady  in  a  gilded  palanquin,  borne 
on  the  shoulders  of  four  slaves.  She  was  opulently  and 
handsomely  attired,  and  carried  a  blue  and  green  fan, 
while  an  attendant  wralked  behind  and  held  over  her 
head  a  large  parasol. 

Two  chariots,  containing  young  Egyptian  lords,  dashed 
by  us  at  full  speed  in  the  excitement  of  a  race,  each 
driving  his  own  ornamented  car,  the  charioteers  standing 
a  little  in  the  rear. 

People  selling  little  images  of  gods,  or  of  eminent  de 
ceased  persons,  or  fruit,  or  flowers,  or  scarabsei,  and  am 
ulets,  were  seated  all  along  the  highway,  upon  pedes 
tals,  or  in  the  shade  of  statues  and  tombs ;  while  along 
the  road  walked  sellers  of  vegetables,  and  fowls,  and 
bread.  Indeed,  the  way  was  crowded  with  life  and  ac 
tivity.  "With  no  other  people  would  the  avenue  to  its 
tombs  be  the  most  thronged  of  any,  and  the  favorite  of 
all  in  the  city  ;  for  Memphis,  which  extends  from  and 
includes  Jizeh,  past  the  pyramids  south  for  six  miles, 
has  noble  streets,  but  none  like  this  leading  to  the  pyra 
mids.  The  Egyptians  say  that  the  house  is  but  the  tem 
porary  abode  of  man,  out  in  the  tombs  his  embalmed 


248  THE  PILLAR  OF  FIRE,  OR 

body  dwells  forever.  "  Let  us,  therefore,  dccorafo 
our  tombs  with  paintings  and  art,  and  iill  them  with 
flowers,  and  adorn  the  homes  which  are  to  be  perma 
nent." 

Hence  the  "  dead-life"  of  the  sepulchres  is  not  less  a 
reality  to  the  Egyptian  than  iiio  life  in  the  city.  The 
poor,  however,  do  not  find  tombs.  They  are  buried  in 
graves  or  pits,  like  the  Hebrew  people.  On  the  other 
side  of  the  river  lies  the  most  ancient  burial-place  of 
Memphis ;  but  since  the  construction  of  the  Lake  of 
the  Dead,  it  is  no  longer  necessary  to  cross  the  I^ile  (for 
the  dead  must  be  ferried  across  water)  for  interment. 

As  we  drove  on,  we  came  to  a  stately  sepulchre,  be 
fore  which  was  gathered  a  large  multitude.  The  coffin 
had  j  list  been  removed  from  a  gorgeous  hearse  and  set 
down  upon  the  step  of  the  tomb.  It  was  the  funeral  of 
a  lady.  I  never  saw  any  painting  so  rich  as  that  which 
adorned  the  mummy-case.  It  was  an  Osirian  coffin,  and 
covered  in  every  part  with  columns  of  hieroglyphics 
or  emblematical  figures,  among  which  were  represented 
the  winged  serpent,  the  ibis,  the  cynocephalus  or  the 
genii  of  Amenthe,  and  the  scarabseus. 

"The  hieroglyphics,"  said  my  companion,  "contain 
the  name  and  qualities  of  the  deceased." 

At  this  moment  an  official,  partly  in  a  priestly  dress, 
advanced  in  an  imposing  manner,  touched  the  coffin 
with  a  wand,  and  said  aloud : 

"  Approved !  Let  the  good  be  entombed,  and  may 
their  souls  dwell  in  Amenthe  with  Osiris.  Judgment  is 
passed  in  her  favor !  Let  her  be  buried  !" 

Upon  hearing  this  address,  I  asked  the  high-priest 
what  it  signified.  He  replied,  with  that  courtesy  which 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  249 

has  always  distinguished  his  replies  to  my  numerous 
questions : 

"This  act  has  reference  to  the  judgment  of  Osiris. 
We  did  not  witness  a  similar  ceremony  at  the  lake,  be 
cause  the  deceased  was  brought  from  On,  and  had  al 
ready  been  judged  at  the  crossing  of  the  Nile.  If  we 
had  sooner  seen  this  funeral  procession,  which  came 
only  from  the  city  to  the  lake,  we  should  have  beheld 
forty-two  just  persons,  chosen  as  judges,  seated  upon  a 
semicircular  stone  bench  along  the  shore." 

"  I  noticed  the  stone  seats,"  I  answered,  "  and  intended 
to  have  inquired  their  use." 

"  Seated  upon  them,  the  forty- two  judges  await  the  pro 
cession.  The  baris,  or  gilded  galley,  which  is  to  receive 
the  body,  is  then  drawn  alongside  of  the  steps.  Before 
it  the  bearers  stop,  and  turning  to  the  judges,  rest  their 
burden  on  the  ground  before  them.  Then,  while  all  the 
friends  stand  anxiously  around,  and  hundreds  of  specta 
tors  line  the  shores,  one  of  the  judges  rises  and  asks  if 
any  one  present  can  lawfully  accuse  the  deceased  of 
having  done  wrong  to  any  man.  If  the  dead  has  done 
injustice  or  evil,  his  enemy,  or  the  one  wronged,  or  their 
relatives,  advance  and  make  the  charge.  The  judges 
weigh  the  accusation,  and  if  it  be  sustained,  the  rites  of 
sepulchre  are  commanded  not  to  proceed." 

Such  a  judgment,  dear  mother,  I  afterwards  witnessed 
on  our  return  from  the  pyramids.  It  was  the  funeral  of 
a  woman  of  respectability. 

The  accuser  said,  advancing  into  the  space  before  the 
judges— 

"  I  accuse  the  deceased  of  suffering  her  father  to  perish 
in  want." 

U« 


250  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

"  This  is  a  great  crime  by  our  laws,"  said  the  judge 
sternly ;  "for,  though  sons  are  not  bound  to  provide  for 
poor  parents,  daughters  are.  This  she  knew,  and  was 
able  to  do  it.  "Where  are  the  proofs  ?" 

Three  persons  came  forward  and  bore  testimony  to 
the  fact. 

"  The  deceased  is  not  worthy  to  pass  the  Lake  of  the 
Dead.  The  burial  is  prohibited." 

Hereupon  there  was  a  great  cry  of  woe  on  the  part  of 
the  mortified  relations ;  and  the  mummy,  without  being 
permitted  to  enter  the  sacred  baris,  was  retaken  to  the 
city,  where  in  a  shrine  in  the  house  it  will  remain  above- 
ground  for  years ;  until  finally,  after  certain  ceremonies, 
it  is  permitted  to  be  ignominiously  entombed  in  "  the 
sepulchre  of  the  evil." 

This  accusation  and  judgment,  dear  mother,  is  a  strik 
ing  illustration  of  the  veneration  and  respect  children 
are  expected  to  pay  to  their  parents  in  Egypt. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  accusation  is  not  sustained, 
the  accusers  are  stoned  away  by  the  friends,  who  then  with 
great  joy  unite  in  a  eulogy  of  the  dead,  and  joined  by  all 
the  people  present  pray  the  gods  below  to  receive  him  to 
dwell  among  the  pious  dead.  In  the  eulogy,  they  speak 
only  of  virtues — praising  his  learning,  his  integrity,  his 
justice,  his  piety,  his  temperance,  and  truthfulness ;  but  no 
mention  is  made  of  rank,  since  all  Egyptians  are  deemed 
equally  noble.  Such  an  ordeal  has  no  doubt  a  great  in 
fluence  upon  the  living  Egyptian  ;  for  he  is  certain  that 
at  his  death  every  act  of  injustice  he  has  committed  will 
be  brought  up  before  the  forty-two  judges,  and  if  found 
guilty,  he  will  be  denied  sepulture,  while  infamy  will  be 
attached  to  his  memory. 


ISRAEL   1]S    BONDAGE.  251 

"What,"  I  asked  of  my  companion,  the  high-priest, 
"  is  the  state  of  the  deceased  soul  after  death  ?" 

"That,  O  prince,"  said  he,  "is  one  of  the  mysteries. 
But  as  you  have  been  initiated  into  the  knowledge  of 
the  mystic  books  in  your  own  land,  I  will  explain  to  you 
what  our  books  of  the  dead  teach.  We  priests  of  Apis 
do  not  believe  with  those  of  Osiris  at  On." 

"  What  is  their  faith  ?"  I  asked. 

"  That  the  .soul  of  man  is  immortal  (which  we  all  be 
lieve"),  he  added  positively;  "that  when  the  body  de 
cays,  the  soul  enters  into  and  is  born  in  the  form  of  a 
lower  animal ;  and  when  it  has  gone  the  round  of  the 
bodies  of  all  terrestrial  and  marine  animals,  and  of  all 
flying  creatures,  it  enters  again  into  the  body  of  an  in 
fant  at  its  birth." 

"  Possibly  in  this  belief,"  I  remarked,  "  is  found  the 
reason  for  preserving  the  human  body  as  long  as  possi 
ble  by  embalming  it,  thus  keeping  off  the  transmigration 
of  its  soul  into  a  brute  as  long  as  possible." 

"Without  doubt,"  he  replied,  "  embalming  the  dead 
grew  out  of  the  doctrine  of  transmigration  of  souls.  The 
circuit  performed  by  a  soul  in  this  series  of  inhabitations 
of  the  forms  of  animals,  is  three  thousand  years  in  dura 
tion.  Such  is  the  belief  of  the  priests  of  the  Sun.  This 
transmigration  is  not  connected  either  with  reward  or 
punishment,  but  it  is  a  necessity  of  its  creation  that  the 
soul  should  accomplish  the  whole  circuit  of  the  king 
dom  of  animated  nature  ere  it  again  enters  a  human 
body.  Our  doctrine  of  metempsychosis  only  so  far  em 
bodies  this,  as  to  make  Osiris  s*end  back  the  transgress 
ing  soul  from  Amenthe  to  earth,  to  dwell  in  the  body 
of  swine  as  a  punishment ;  and  when  its  probation  is 


252  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

passed,  we  allow  an  ultimate  return  to  the  Divine  Es 
sence." 

"  What  is  this  tribunal  of  Osiris  2"  I  asked. 

"The  dead  carry  with  them  to  the  tomb  a  papyrus, 
on  which  is  written  their  address  to  the  gods,  and  the 
deeds  which  entitle  them  to  admission  into  Heaven. 
When  the  soul  leaves  the  grave,  it  is  received  by  Horns, 
son  of  Osiris,  and  conducted  to  the  gates  of  Amenthe,  or 
the  regions  of  the  gods.  At  the  entrance,  a  dog  with 
four  heads — of  the  wolf,  lion,  serpent,  and  bear — keeps 
guard.  Near  the  gate,  which  is  called  the  Gate  of 
Truth,  sits  the  goddess  of  Justice,  with  her  gigantic 
scales  of  gold  between  her  and  the  Gate  of  Truth. 
Hard  by  sits  the  god  Thoth,  with  a  tablet  and  stylus. 
The  scales  are  superintended  by  the  deity  Anubis. 
Through  the  open  gate  the  throne  of  Osiris  is  visible 
with  the  deity  upon  it. 

"  As  Horns  advances  with  the  soul  to  the  Gate  of 
Truth,  as  if  to  enter,  the  goddess  of  Justice  commands 
him  to  stop,  that  the  sum  of  its  deeds,  both  good  and 
evil,  may  be  weighed  and  recorded. 

"  Anubis  then  places  a  vase  containing  all  the  human 
virtues  in  one  scale,  and  the  heart  of  the  deceased,  or 
sometimes  the  soul  itself,  in  the  other.  Horns  repeats 
the  result,  which  the  god  Thoth  inscribes  upon  his  iron 
tablet.  The  dog  watches  the  issue  of  the  weighing  with 
eyes  red  with  furious  longing  to  devour  the  soul.  If  the 
sum  of  its  good  deeds  predominates,  Horus,  taking  it  by 
one  hand,  and  the  tablet  of  Thoth  in  the  other,  advan 
ces  into  the  hall,  where  his  father,  Osiris,  is  seated  upon 
the  throne,  holding  his  crook  and  flagellum,  and  await 
ing  the  report  from  the  hand  of  his  son.  They  ap- 


•  ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  253 

proach  the  throne  between  four  genii  of  Amenthe,  and 
come  before  three  deities  who  sit  in  front  of  the  throne. 
These  ask  if  he  has  been  weighed,  and  Horus  exhibits 
to  each  the  tablet  of  Thoth.  They  then  permit  him  to 
pass.  Horus  now  stands  before  Osiris,  with  the  soul  by 
his  side,  and  presents  the  tablet,  which  the  deity  takes 
from  his  son's  hand.  If  satisfied  by  an  inspection  of  the 
tablet,  which  records  not  only  the  virtues  but  every 
error  of  the  soul's  life  on  earth,  Osiris  presents  him  with 
an  ostrich  feather,  the  emblem  of  truth.  One  of  the 
three  deities  then  gives  him  a  vase  containing  all  the 
virtues,  his  few  sins  being  pardoned ;  a  second  offers 
him  a  jewelled  band  for  the  forehead,  on  which  is  in 
scribed  in  diamonds  the  word  'justified;'  and  the  third 
presents  him  with  the  emblem  of  life.  He  is  now  re 
ceived  by  Isis,  and  conducted  through  gates  of  gold  that 
open  with  divine  music,  and  enters  into  scenes  of  celes 
tial  beauty  and  splendor ;  palaces  of  the  gods  become  his 
abode,  he  reposes  by  heavenly  rivers  of  crystal  beauty, 
wanders  through  fields  of  delight,  and  dwells  with  the 
Lord  of  the  Sun,  and  all  the  immortal  gods,  in  glory  in 
effable  and  endless." 

The  hierarch  said  all  this  with  great  animation,  and 
like  a  man  who  believes  what  he  utters.  I  was  deeply 
interested. 

"And  what,  my  lord  priest,  becomes  of  the  soul 
which  cannot  meet  the  scales  of  justice  with  confidence, 
whose  evil  deeds  outweigh  his  good  ones  ?" 

"  Such  a  soul  does  not  see  Osiris,  nor  the  farther 

•     ' 

heavens  where  he  dwells  illumined  by  the  glory  of  the 
divine  disk  of  the  Lord  of  the  Sun.  The  leprobate 
spirit  does  not  behold  the  Eye  of  Osiris,  nor  repose  in  its 


254  THE  PILLAR  OF   FIRE,    OR 

pure  light.  It  is  not  manifested  to  the  sacred  deities  of 
the  inner  heavens,  nor  does  he  hear  the  voice  of  the 
great  god,  saying,  'Thou  art  justified,  O  soul!  Enter 
them  the  Gate  of  Truth.' 

"  If  the  soul  is  all  wicked,  with  no  virtues,  then  Horns 
releases  its  hand  with  horror,  and  the  dog  devours  the 
wretched  being  in  a  moment.  But  if  he  has  one  or  two 
virtues — such  as  honoring  his  parents,  having  saved  a 
human  life,  or  fed  the  hungry — then  he  is  not  given 
over  to  the  monster;  but  Horns,  with  a  sad  aspect,  leads 
him  to  the  throne  of  Osiris,  who,  reading  the  dark  tab 
let  of  Thoth,  sternly  inclines  his  sceptre  in  token  of  con 
demnation,  and  pronounces  judgment  upon  him  accord 
ing  to  his  sin,  when,  Horns  leaving  him,  two  evil  gods 
from  the  realms  of  Typhon  appear  and  lead  him  forth." 

"  What  is  the  punishment  ordained  ?" 

"  To  be  led  back  to  the  gate  of  Truth  and  delivered 
to  Justice,  who,  without  a  head,  sits  thereat.  .  The  god 
dess  seals  the  sentence  of  Osiris  upon  the  forehead  of 
the  unclean  soul,  and  instantly  it  assumes  the  form  of  a 
pig,  or  some  other  base  animal.  The  god  Thoth  then 
calls  up  two  monkeys,  who  take  the  condemned  soul  to 
a  boat  and  ferry  it  back  to  the  world,  while  the  bridge 
by  which  it  came  from  the  earth  is  cut  down  by  Aim- 
bis,  in  the  form  of  a  man  with  an  axe." 

"  As  every  thing  in  Egyptian  mythology  is  symboli 
cal,  what  is  the  signification  of  these  monkeys?" 

"  Monkeys  are  emblems  of  Thoth,  the  god  of  time," 
he  answered.  "  The  books  of  our  mysteries  teach  that 
the  human  race  began  with  the  monkey,  and  progres 
sively  advanced  to  man.  Osiris,  by  his  judgment,  con 
demns  the  unclean  soul  to  the  level  of  the  monkey 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  255 

again,  but  first  commands  it  to  enter  a  swine's  body, 
the  uncleanest  of  all  beasts,  arid  make  its  way  through 
th6  whole  circle  of  animal  creation,  back  to  the  mon- 
key,  and  np  through  the  black,  barbaric  races  of  men, 
who  have  arms  like  apes,  to  true  man  himself.  Then, 
practising  virtue  and  rejecting  his  former  vices,  he 
may  after  death  finally  attain  to  the  mansions  of  the 
blessed,  in  the  presence  of  Osiris.  But  I  should  add, 
the  souls  of  bodies  unburied  can  never  enter  the  Gate 
of  Truth." 

Here  we  came  in  sight  of  the  gigantic  pylon  that 
opens  to  the  Temple  of  the  Pyramid  of  Cheops,  and  the 
hierarch  ceased  speaking.  He  had,  however,  but  little 
to  add,  for  his  explanations  covered  all  the  ground  of 
my  inquiries. 

Thus,  dear  mother,  have  I  presented  to  you  the  sys 
tem  of  worship  in  this  wonderful  land.  I  will  now 
proceed  to  a  description  of  my  visit  to  the  pyramids, 
which,  in  sublime  majesty,  occupied  the  whole  horizon 
as  we  advanced  beyond  the  plain  of  the  tombs.  At  the 
extremity  of  the  paved  causeway  of  this  stately  "  Ave 
nue  of  the  Dead,"  leading  from  the  Nile  to  the  pyra 
mids,  we  beheld  the  three  great  triangular  mountains  of 
gigantic  art  obliquely,  so  that  they  were  grasped  by  the 
eye  in  one  grand  view.  But  the  lofty  mass  of  Cheops 
immediately  before  us,  at  the  end  of  the  avenue,  chal 
lenged  the  eye  and  whole  attention  of  the"  observer. 
For  a  moment,  as  we  dashed  onward  in  our  brilliantly 
painted  chariot,  our  steeds  tossing  their  plumed  heads 
as  if  proud  of  their  housings  of  gold  and  needle-work, 
we  lost  sight  of  the  pyramid  by  the  interposition  of  the 
gigantic  wings  of  the  Gate  of  the  Pyramids.  These 


256  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

wings  were  towers  of  Syenite  rock,  one  hundred  and 
twenty  feet  in  height,  looking  down  from  their  twelfth 
painted  and  sculptured  story  upon  the  tops  of  the  lofti 
est  palms  that  grew  on  each  side  of  the  entrance.  The 
gate  was  guarded  by  priests,  who  wore  a  close  silver 
helmet,  and  held  in  their  hands  a  short  sword,  the 
sheath  of  which  hung  to  a  belt  of  leopard's  skin.  They 
were  young  men,  numbering  in  all  three  hundred  and 
sixty,  corresponding  to  the  days  of  the  former  Egyptian 
year ;  while  their  live  captains  typify  five  days  added 
by  the  gods. 

"  These  young  men,"  said  the  high-priest,  "  are  all 
sons  of  warlike  fathers.  They  desire  to  become  priests, 
and  are  now  in  their  novitiate ;  but  after  a  year's  ser 
vice  as  guards  to  the  greatest  of  temples,  they  will  be 
advanced  to  a  higher  degree,  and  exchange  the  sword 
for  the  shepherd's  crook ;  and  thence  they  rise  to  be 
bearers  of  libation  vases,  and  assistants  in  sacrifices." 

We  passed  under  the  lofty  pylon,  which  was  spanned 
by  a  bronze  winged  sun,  saluted  by  sixty  of  the  guard 
on  duty  ;  this  being  the  number  of  each  of  the  six  bodies 
into  which  they  are  divided.  As  soon  as  we  entered 
the  court  of  the  gate,  a  sight  of  inconceivable  grandeur 
burst  upon  me.  Imagine  a  double  colonnade  of  the 
most  magnificent  pillars  which  art  could  create,  extend 
ing  on  each  side  of  an  open  way  a  thousand  cubits  in 
length.  At  the  end  of  the  grand  vista,  behold  crouched 
at  full  length,  on  the  eastern  edge  of  the  elevated  table 
on  which  the  pyramids  stand,  and  in  an  attitude  of  eter 
nal  repose,  with  an  aspect  of  majesty  and  benignity  in 
conceivable  in  the  human  lineaments,  an  andro-sphinx 
of  colossal  size,  having  the  face  of  a  warrior.  Although 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  257 

stretched  on  the  earth,  with  its  fore-paws  extended,  the 
summit  of  the  brow  is  seventy  feet  above  the  earth. 
This  sublime  image  is  emblematical,  like  all  Egyptian 
sphinxes,  and  represents  strength  or  power  combined 
with  intellect.  The  face  I  at  once  recognized  to  be  that 

O 

of  Chephres,  as  seen  upon  his  obelisk  at  Rhoda,  aggran 
dized  by  the  vastness  of  its  proportions  to  the  aspect  of 
a  god. 

From  my  companion,  the  prince-hierarch,  I  learned 
it  was  begun  by  an  ancient  Pharaoh  of  the  same  name, 
one  of  the  kings  of  the  oldest  dynasty,  who  conceived 
the  idea  of  chiselling  into  these  grand  proportions  a  mass 
of  rock,  which,  projecting  from  the  Libyan  hills,  nearly 
obstructed  the  view  of  the  principal  pyramid. 

We  were  here  forbidden  to  advance  in  our  chariot, 
and  the  footmen,  who  had  never  left  the  side  of  the 
horses,  however  swiftly  our  charioteer  might  drive, 
caught  them  by  the  head,  and  we  alighted. 

I  had  leisure  now  to  contemplate  the  scene  before 
me.  The  personation  of  majesty,  the  sphinx,  fills  the 
breadth  of  the  approach  between  the  massive  pillars  of 
the  colonnade.  Between  his  fore-paws,  which  extend 
fifty  feet,  while  the  body  is  nearly  three  times  this  meas 
ure,  stands  a  beautiful  temple  faced  with  oriental  ala 
baster.  His  head  is  crowned  with  a  helmet  slightly  con 
vex,  upon  which,  like  a  crest,  is  affixed  the  sacred  uneus 
or  serpent,  shining  with  gold.  The  cape  or  neck-band 
of  the  helmet  is  of  scales,  colored  blue,  red,  green,  and 
orange,  intermingled  with  gilding.  A  great  and  full 
beard  descends  over  his  breast,  immediately  under  which, 
and  between  his  feet,  is  the  summit  of  the  temple  where 
sacrifices  are  daily  offered  to  the  god.  Above  his  tow- 


258  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

ering  brow  soars  the  mighty  pyramid  before  which  this 
colossus  keeps  guard. 

"The  majesty  of  this  image,  O  prince,''  said  the  high- 
priest,  as,  leaning  at  every  step  upon  his  slender  acacia 
rod,  he  walked  by  my  side,  "impresses  you." 

"It  is  the  most  majestic  of  all  the  gods  of  Egypt,"  1 
answered. 

"  Yes.     Its  age  is  nearly  coeval  with  the  pyramid." 

"  On  the  pyramidion  base  of  the  left  obelisk  in  front  of 
the  temple  of  Osiris,  have  I  not  seen  reposing  four  small 
sphinxes  copied  from  this  ?" 

"Thou  hast  seen  them.  That  obelisk  is  many  ages 
old  ;  yet  long  before  it,  was  this  sphinx-god,  as  silent,  ma 
jestic,  and  immovable  in  eternal  repose  as  you  behold 
him  now." 

At  the  termination  of  the  avenue  of  direct  approach, 
we  descended  an  inclined  plane  to  a  platform  of  marble, 
on  which  is  an  image  of  Osiris  in  stone,  and  were  brought 
nearly  opposite  the  lower  part  of  its  face.  Then  another 
flight  of  steps,  cased  with  polished  porphyry,  brought 
us  on  a  level  with  the  top  of  the  temple.  In  the  centre 
of  this  level  platform  stands  a  statue  of  Horus,  cast  in 
bronze.  Thence  descending  another  flight  of  thirty 
broad  steps,  we  stood  in  the  space  between  the  enormous 
feet  of  the  sphinx,  and  directly  before  the  beautiful 
temple. 

Our  gradual  approach  in  this  descent,  during  which 
the  sphinx  was  kept  constantly  in  view,  rising  above  us 
as  we  descended,  heightened  the  impressions  first  made 
upon  me  by  its  colossal  size  ;  and  I  beheld,  with  new 
emotions  of  sublimity,  its  posture  of  repose  and  calm 
majesty  of  aspect. 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  259 

A  priest,  in  the  full  costume  of  his  sacred  office,  stood 
at  the  door,  and  preceded  by  him  we  entered.  As  it 
was  the  hour  of  oblation,  he  held  a  censer  in  his  hand, 
and  approaching  an  altar  before  a  granite  tablet  at  the 
end  of  the  temple,  he  invoked  the  mysterious  god.  The 
temple  has  no  roof,  but  is  exquisitely  decorated  and  paint 
ed  with  sacred  symbols.  On  each  side  stands  a  tablet  of 
limestone.  The  tablet  over  the  altar  is  inscribed  with 
the  name  of  the  designer  of  the  sphinx,  Menes,  the  first 
mortal  king  after  the  general  overflow  of  the  mountains, 
and  also  with  the  destruction  of  the  gigantic  gods  by  the 
uprising  of  unknown  oceans  upon  the  globe.  The  tablet 
holds  his  shield,  and  on  it  is  pictured  the  escape  of  the 
son  of  the  ancient  gods,  in  a  ship,  which  is  resting  upon 
a  mountain  peak.  In  this  tradition,  mother,  we  find 
repeated  our  Phoenician  history  of  the  flood,  before  the 
days  of  the  first  kings.  Without  doubt  all  nations  retain 
a  similar  tradition.  Upon  the  same  tablet  is  also  a 
representation  of  a  later  king  offering  incense  and  liba 
tions  to  the  god  to  whom  the  sphinx  is  consecrated. 
The  tablets  on  the  side  also  represent  kings  offering 
prayer  to  the  god.  The  floor  is  beautifully  tesselated 
with  variegated  stones;  and  on  all  sides  are  ivory  or 
silver  tables,  covered  with  beautifully  shaped  vases, 
containing  offerings  of  worshippers.  There  are,  besides, 
ten  shrines  before  the  altar,  upon  each  of  which  rests  a 
golden  crown,  gifts  of  kings  of  other  lands.  "Without 
question  this  temple  of  the  Sphinx  is  the  richest  in  Egypt 
in  gifts,  as  well  as  most  honored  by  its  Pharaohs.  Is  it 
not  the  vestibule  to  the  grand  pyramidal  temple  which 
is  the  tomb  of  the  first  mortal  king  ? 

But,  my  dear  mother,  I  must  not  linger  at  the  feet  of 


260  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

the  sphinx.  Leaving  -the  temple,  we  ascended  one  of 
two  broad  stair-cases,  and  mounting  to  a  succession  of  ter 
races,  adorned  with  statues  of  gods,  the  vast  bulk  of  the 
sphinx  being  on  our  right,  we  reached  a  noble  stone 
platform  behind  the  image,  upon  which  stands  an  an 
cient  figure,  in  coarse  marble,  worn  by  age,  of  Chephres 
the  Great.  He  stamps  a  sea-dragon  under  his  feet,  and 
upon  his  capped  head  is  the  beak  of  a  galley,  with  the 
head  and  wings  of  a  dove.  In  this  symbol,  dear  mother, 
behold  again  the  representation  of  the_delu^e,  and  the 
dove  that  guided  the  ship  which  held  Cliephren,  or 
Chephres,  and  his  father,  the  god  Noachis,  or  Noah. 

When  we  had  gained  this  terrace,  we  beheld  before 
us  both  pyramids,  and  between  them  the  pylon  of  a 
vast  temple,  which,  extending  its  great  arms  on  each 
side,  embraced  the  twin  pyramids  in  one  god-like  edi 
fice,  of  grandeur  and  dimensions  immeasurable  to  the 
eye,  and  overpowering  to  the  imagination.  To  explain 
more  clearly  what  I  beheld  :  Between,  but  in  advance 
of  them,  towered  a  colossal  pylon,  to  which  each  pyra 
mid  was  a  wing,  united  by  a  wall  of  brick,  ninety  feet 
high,  encased  with  marble.  This  central  temple,  or 
pylon,  was  as  massive  and  solemn  in  its  aspect  as  the 
pyramids  which  formed  its  propyla.  For  a  few  moments 
I  stood  and  gazed  with  awe.  Until  the  spectator  reach 
es  the  terrace,  the  whole  effect  -Is  not  perceived ;  for, 
though  the  central  temple  is  visible,  even  from  the  Lake 
01  the  Dead,  it  appears  as  if  merely  intervening ;  it  is 
only  on  the  terrace  before  which  the  sphinx,  the  gi 
gantic  watcher  before  the  pyramids,  reposes,  that  the 
whole  grand  design  is  comprehended.  Had  I  been  all 
,it  once  brought  iu  sight  of  the  House  of  Osiris,  in  the 


ISKAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  261 

realm  of  the  gods,  I  should  not  have  been  more  over 
awed  and  impressed. 

This  temple,  hnilt  of  brick,  with  marble  casing,  has 
in  its  outline  the  ruinous  aspect  of  great  age,  and  is  not 
in  as  good  preservation  as  the  pyramids,  although  sub 
sequently  erected,  not  as  an  after-thought,  but  in  keep 
ing  with  the  great  design. 

But  a  visitor  is  announced  as  in  the  hall  of  reception; 
theiefore,  at  present,  dear  mother,  farewell, 

SESOSTEIS. 


202          THE  PILLAR  OF  FIRE,  OR 


LETTEE    XVI. 

CITY  OF  ON 

Mr   HONORED   AND    DEAR    MOTHER  I 

1  HAVE  described  my  chariot  ride  through  the 
plain  of  tombs,  along  the  magnificent  causeway,  which 
extends  from  the  Lake  of  the  Dead  to  the  feet  of  the 
sphinx.  All  that  I  beheld  of  the  grandeur  of  the  mon 
uments  showed,  that  the  Egyptians  of  past  generations 
who  built  them,  and  lie  buried  here,  were  a  populous 
and  powerful  nation,  in  advance  of  all  others  in  the  arts 
of  life ;  since  not  only  do  the  cities  for  the  living,  but 
the  "  Homes  of  the  Dead,"  attest  their  taste  and  love 
for  the  beautiful  and  sublime  in  nature  and  art.  The 
culmination  of  all  Egyptian  marvels  in  architecture  is 
the  sphinx-guarded  pyramidal  temple. 

"We  approached  the  central  pylon  along  a  paved 
court,  across  which  two  hundred  chariots  could  have 
driven  in  a  line.  This  court  was  entirely  surrounded 
by  a  double  row  of  majestic  columns,  with  the  lotus-leaf 
capitals  I  have  before  described.  The  vastness  of  their 
proportions  seemed  to  be  increased  by  contrast  with  a 
group  of  priests,  who  looked  like  pigmies  in  size  as  they 
stood  by  their  bases.  The  gigantic  entablature,  which 
united  their  summits,  was  covered  with  sacred  symbols, 
richly  colored,  and  crowned  with  statues  of  kings,  hewn 


ISRAEL   IX   BONDAGE  263 

out  of  the  dark-gray  granite  of  Ethiopia.  But  some  of 
these  were  mutilated  by  Time,  which,  indeed,  had 
thrown  its  mantle  of  decay  over  the  whole, — pillars, 
architecture,  and  sculpture ;  for  this  court  is  coeval 
with  the  sphinx  crouched  at  its  entrance,  and  but  a 
little  later  than  the  two  pyramids.  In  a  few  centuries, 
decay  will  have  brought  the  mighty  fabric  to  the  earth ; 
for,  massive  as  it  looks,  it  is  built  of  brick,  covered  with 
pictured  stucco  ;  but  the  pyramids  of  stone,  which  have 
withstood  the  lapse  of  ages  beyond  history,  will  last  as 
long  as  the  everlasting  hills  of  granite  from  which  their 
enormous  blocks  were  hewn. 

Passing  beneath  the  great  portal,  we  found  ourselves 
in  the  sacred  square  of  the  temple  of  the  Pyramids,  and 
I  could  now  perceive  the  mighty  design.  Connected 
by  stupendous  columnar  wings,  the  pyramids  rose  in 
sublime  grandeur  on  either  hand.  Their  summits  shone 
with  the  light  of  the  setting  sun,  which,  reflected  from 
the  polished  casing  of  the  pictured  tiles  yet  remaining 
near  the  top,  and  that  once  covered  the  whole  surface 
from  base  to  apex,  lent  a  splendor  to  them  indescribable. 
On  the  opposite  side  of  the  quadrangle,  formed  by  the 
temple  in  front  and  the  bases  of  the  pyramids  on  the 
two  sides,  is  a  dark  grove  of  palms,  intermingled  with 
statues  and  altars ;  and  beyond  rise  the  dark  hills 
of  Libya — a  fitting  and  solemn  background  to  the 
scene. 

About  the  summits  of  the  Queen's  Pyramid,  which  is 
a  little  smaller  than  the  other,  though  it  appears  to  be 
of  equal  height,  from  the  superior  elevation  of  the  plat 
form  of  rock  on  which  it  stands,  soared  flocks  of  the 
white  ibis,  their  snow-white  wings  flashing  like  pinions 


OR 


of  silver  as  they  wheeled  in  mid-air.  At  that  immense 
height  they  looked  no  larger  than  sparrows. 

A  statue  of  Horns,  whose  name  I  had  also  seen  in 
scribed  on  the  tablet  of  the  temple  of  the  Sphinx,  rose 
a  colossal  monolith  in  the  centre  of  the  quadrangle, 
with  one  of  Thoth  upon  his  right,  and  another  of  Anubis 
on  his  left  hand.  These  figures  were  symbolical  of  the 
funereal  use  of  the  pyramids  between  which  they  stood. 

After  walking  around  the  columned  avenue  of  this 
great  mausoleum,  we  began  the  ascent  of  the  larger 
pyramid,  known  as  that  of  Cheops  ;  the  other  bearing 
the  name  of  Chephres,  as  the  high-priest  informs  me  ; 
and  the  third,  which  towers  in  its  own  unaided  grandeur 
farther  to  the  south,  being  that  of  Pharaoh-Men-Cherines. 
We  found  the  ascent  extremely  difficult  —  indeed,  in 
ancient  times  it  must  have  been  impossible,  when  its 
polished  and  beautiful  casing  remained  entire  :  but  this 
having  been  removed  by  time  and  accident  in  many 
places,  and  purposely  in  others,  a  path,  if  it  may  be  so 
termed,  is  made  to  the  summit.  We  were  aided  by 
attendants  of  the  temple,  who  from  long  practice  ascend 
with  ease,  assisting  also  those  strangers  who  would 
climb  the  perilous  height. 

As  we  reached  halt-way,  a  block,  which  had  been 
removed  from  its  place  either  by  the  irresistible  force 
of  a  sirocco  from  the  desert,  or  by  lightning,  gave  the 
high-priest  and  myself  a  welcome  resting-place. 

As  we  stood  here  a  few  moments,  I  looked  down 
upon  the  prospect  below.  The  sight  at  first  made  me 
dizzy,  for  we  were  elevated  four  hundred  feet  above  the 
base.  I  seemed  to  be  suspended  upon  wings  above 
an  abyss,  and  a  dreadful  desire  to  throw  myself  out 


ISKAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  265 

into  mid-air  seized  me ;  so  that  to  resist  it  I  closed  my 
eyes  and  clung  firmly  to  the  attendant.  It  soon  passed 
off,  and  I  gazed  down  upon  the  vast  quadrangle,  the 
persons  in  which  looked  no  bigger  than  ants,  while  the 
three  colossi  of  the  gods,  in  the  centre,  were  reduced  to 
the  natural  size  of  men. 

Opposite,  not  six  hundred  cubits  distant,  stood  Chc- 
phres.  From  each  pyramid  swept  the  avenues  of  col 
umns  and  the  great  wall  connecting  both  with  the  central 
temple  and  its  pylon.  From  the  grove  of  palms,  curled 
up  into  the  pure  orange-colored  atmosphere  a  blue  cloud 
of  incense,  where  some  priest  offered  at  one  of  its  shrines. 

Again  we  mounted  upwards,  and,  after  incredible 
fatigue,  gained  the  summit — not  without  peril,  for  a  slip 
of  the  foot  or  the  hand,  each  block  being  as  High  as  a 
man's  neck,  would  prove  fatal.  Indeed,  more  than  one 
life  has  been  lost  in  falling  down  the  side  of  the  pyra 
mid.  A  prince  of  Midian,  a  country  in  Arabia,  lost  his 
life  last  century  by  losing  his  hold  and  falling  from 
Chephres,  which  is  more  difficult  of  ascent  than  Cheops, 
(or  Chuphu),  as  the  priests  there  call  its  name. 

How  shall  I  describe  to  you,  my  dear  mother,  the 
scene  which  burst  upon  my  vision,  as  I  gazed  about  me 
from  this  mountain-like  elevation !  As  I  ascended,  the 
prospect  of  the  country  enlarged  at  every  step,  but 
now  I  seemed  to  behold  the  earth  itself  spread  out 
beneath  rne.  The  place  where  we  stood,  which  looks 
from  below  like  a  sharp  apex,  is  a  platform  several 
cubits  across,  on  which  twenty  men  could  stand  or 
move  about  with  ease. 

I  can  give  you  no  adequate  conception  of  the  scene  I 
beheld.  First,  the  valley  of  the  Nile  was  visible,  ex 

12 


266  THE   PILLAR    OF   FIRE,    OR 

tending  for  many  leagues  to  the  right  and  left,  and 
resembling  a  green  belt  a  few  miles  wide,  through 
which  the  river  flowed  like  a  silver  band — while  upon 
its  borders  countless  cities  were  set  like  precious  stones. 
It  was  a  gorgeous  and  magnificent  assemblage  of  cities, 
Wtemples;  palaces,  obelisks,  villas,  gardens,  monuments, 
avenues  of  trees  and  sphinxes,  sepulchres^  aqueducts, 
statue-lined  causeways,  galleys  and  pleasure  barges, 
chariots,  horses,  and  multitudes  of  people.  Nor  should 
1  omit  what  now  became  visible  in  one  field  of  view,  to 
the  north  and  south.  I  mean  not  less  than  one  hundred 
pyramids,  ail  much  smaller  than  the  mighty  triad,  but 
each,  had  not  the  others  been  up-builcled,  would  have 
been  a  marvel  of  grandeur. 

"Those  are  all  tombs  of  kings,  but  of  a  later  age 
than  this  one,"  said  the  hierarch,  looking  towards  them, 
"Each  monarch,  at  the  commencement  of  his  reign,  laid 
the  foundation  of  a  pyramid.  He  built  first  a  small 
one,  containing  his  sarcophagus  and  sepulchral  chamber. 
Then  every  year  he  added  to  the  outside  a  complete 
layer  of  stones,  which,  after  many  years,  extended  its 
base,  and  increased  its  elevation  in  like  proportions. 
Therefore  the  size  of  the  pyramids  marks  the  age  to 
which  the  king  lived." 

"Then,"  said  I,  "the  kings  who  built  the  multitude 
of  lesser  pyramids,  which  we  behold  in  the  distance, 
must  have  had  much  shorter  lives  than  the  builders  of 
these  vast  piles." 

"You  are  right,   O  prince,"   he  said.     "When  the 
pyramid,  on  which  we  now  stand,  and  its  companions 
were  builded,  men's  lives  were  of  the  duration  of  a^thou 
sand  years  " 


ISRAEL    IN   BONDAGE.  267 

"  That  was  before  the  traditional  delnge  ?"  I  replied, 
with  surprise  and  interest. 

"True,  O  Prince  of  Tyre!"  he  answered.  "These 
two  great  pyramids,  say  our  sacred  books,  were  the 
work  of  the  giants  who  lived  in  the  days  before  the  flood 
of  !N~oachis,  or  Noah.  They  are  the  tombs  of  their 
kings,  and  were  centuries  in  being  built  according  to 
our  years.  And  when  the  ^ods  brought  the  unknown 
oceans  over  the  earth,  to  punish  the  nations  which  living 
so  long  became  as  wise  as  the  gods,  but  at  the  same  time 
grew  as  wicked  as  wise,  these  vast  sepulchres  withstood, 
like  the  lesser  hills,  the  waters  of  desolation,  and  re 
mained  in  ruinous  grandeur,  not  only  as  witnesses  of  the 
flood,  but  monuments  of  a  past  people  whose  towers,  as 
well  as  tombs,  reached  unto  the  heavens.  You  see 
these  pyramids,  and  how  they  are  now  defaced  by  the 
billows  that  dashed  against  and  over  them.  Anciently, 
when  they  were  completed,  their  whole  surfaces  were 
encased  with  beautiful  tiles  of  the  brightest  blue  and 
purest  white,  inlaid  alternately  in  perfect  squares. 
Upon  this  magnificent  encasing  was  inscribed,  in  pic 
torial  signs,  the  history  of  man  ;  but  no  person  has  ever 
interpreted  them.  You  see,  my  prince,  that  here,  at  the 
top,  are  a  few  strata  still  remaining  of  this  rich  encase 
ment  ;  all  the  rest  having  been  destroyed  by  the  deluge 
—by  the  abrasion  of  the  waves,  and  the  hurling  against 
its  sides  of  mighty  ships,  driven  by  the  huge  and  angry 
billows  which  rolled  like  a  boiling  sea  across  the 'earth 
Thus  you  behold  these  vast  structures,  as  it  were  in 
ruins,  yet  still  retaining  fragmentary  portions  of  their 
original  glory  and  beauty.  When  the  waters  departed, 
the  gods  limited  the  lives  of  men  to  one  hundred  years ; 


268  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OK 

hence  the  pyramids  that  the  kings  this  side  the  flood 
have  erected  are  comparatively  small  in  magnitude." 

"  But  the  third,  was  it  not  built  before  the  flood  ?" 

"  I  did  not  intend  you  should  so  understand,"  lie  an 
swered.  "  It  was  commenced  before  the  flood  by  the 
king  who  was  destroyed  thereby.  But  the  son  of  the 
wise  and  good  Prince  Noah  completed  it  during  the 
several  hundred  years  that  he  lived — as  did  his  father 
also — after  the  flood ;  for  it  was  only  the  lives  of  their 
descendants  that  were  to  be  limited.  Thus  Amun,  says 
tradition,  finished  the  third  pyramid,  but  did  not  encase 
it,  as  the  art  was  lost  by  the  deluge  which  had  destroyed 
those  who  were  skilled  in  it.  There  are  other  accounts, 
my  prince,  but  they  either  come  near  this  one,  or  so  far 
differ  from  it  that  they  are  entitled  to  no  credit." 

"It  is  your  opinion,  then,  O  high-priest,  that  these 
two  pyramids  were  built  by  the  giants  of  the  ages  be 
fore  the  great  jleluge?"  I  asked. 

"  I  have  no  other  one,"  he  replied  firmly.  "  When  the 
age  of  man  was  shortened  to  one  hundred  years  from 
one  thousand,  his  stature  was  also  lessened.  Hence  the 
men  of  the  ages  since  the  flood  cannot  build  a  pyramid 
like  one  of  these.  ('All  the  power  of  engines  and  art 
cannot  uproar  such  stones  six  hundred  feet  into  the  air. 
This  is  giants'  work." 

S  "  Then  you  believe  that  there  were  giants  in  the  earth 
(in  the  days  before  the  flood ?"  I  said,  doubting] j. 
*-  "  These  pyramids  attest  the  fact,"  he  replied,  with  an 
impressive  gesture  of  his  right  hand  towards  the  opposite 
one.  "Noah  himself,  says  tradition,  and  his  sons,  Clie- 
phres,  Chufu,  and  Amun  or  Men-Cherines,  were  gigantic, 
and  are  worshipped  as  gods,  as  you  know,  not  only  here 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  269 

and  in  Syria  and  Ethiopia,  but  in  the  Orient,  and  be 
yond  the  seas,  under  various  names.  In  the  third  pyra 
mid  Aiuun  was  entombed.  In  the  second  is  Chephres, 
or  Chefret,  who,  when  an  aged  king,  was  brought  from 
the  place  where  he  died,  and  placed  in  a  sarcophagus 
above  the  chamber  where  lay  the  king  who  found  sepul 
ture  there  before  the  flood.  Within  the  pyramid  011 
which  we  are,  rest  the  sacred  bones  of  the  Prince-god 
Noah,  who,  at  the  age  of  nine  hundred  and  fifty  years, 
came  hither  to  be  buried  by  the  side  of  his  eldest  son 
Chephres.  '  Such  a  mourning  of  the  nations,  all  of  whom 
sprung  from  his  loins,  the  earth  never  knew,  and  will 
never  witness  more,'  say  the  sacred  scrolls  of  the  tem 
ples.  All  kings,  and  queens,  and  princes,  and  lords,  and 
nobles,  of  every  realm  followed  the  embalmed  body  of 
their  father  and  deity  ;  and  King  JVIenes,  his  grandson, 
went  up  from  Egypt  with  all  the  hosts  of  the  land  to 
meet  the  funeral  procession,  and  to  receive  the  divine 
body.  Cheops  is  but  another  name*  for  Noah.  Here 
also  is  entombed  Menes." 

Such,  my  dear  mother,  is  the  priestly  tradition  of  the 
pyramids.  (We,  of  Tyre,  have  a  myth  that  the  Father 
of  the  Flood  is  buried  in  Damascus ;  but  though  Egyp 
tians  love  to  concentrate  all  history  around  their  own 
land,  and  make  Egypt  the  cradle  of  the  human  race, 
yet  as  this,  tradition  seems  to  be  better  founded  than  ours, 
and  as  they  can  point  to  the  grand  tombs  of  these  kings 
of  the  flood,  I  am  ready  to  concede  to  her  the  honor 
which  she  claims  of  being  the  place  of  sepulture  of  the 
giants  who  survived  the  deluge.  And  what  fitter  tombs, 
than  these  eternal  mountains  of  granite,  could  the  pro 
genitors  of  the  race  repose  in !  Fit  sepulchres  are  they, 


270  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

in  their  grandeur  of  proportions,  for  men  whose  stature 
was  gigantic,  and  whose  lives  extended  through  a  thou 
sand  years  ! 

But  I  must  return  to  the  prospect  from  the  summit  of 
this  mausoleum  of  giants.  The  sun  was  near  the  horizon, 
and  sent  his  level  and  mingled  rose,  golden,  and  purple 
beams  aslant  across  the  valley.  The  air  was  perfectly 
clear,  and  our  view  unimpeded  in  all  directions. 

To  the  south,  along  the  verdant  plain  of  the  Nile,  the 
.pyramids  shone  in  the  sun  as  if  sheathed  with  plates  of 
gold.  Palms,  temples,  obelisks  in  pairs,  and  pylones 
were  mingled  with  them  in  the  richest  confusion ;  while 
as  far  as  the  eye  could  penetrate  they  receded  into 
the  desert,  till  their  size  was  diminished  by  distance  to 
shining  mounds. 

Turning  my  eyes  to  the  west,  the  yellow  plain  of  Libya, 
with  its  rocky  hills  inclosing  the  verdant  valley  of  the 
Nile  in  that  direction,  rolled  away  to  the  edge  of  the 
horizon,  an  arid,  undulating,  illimitable  expanse,  which, 
under  the  sun,  blazed  like  a  lake  of  fire  from  the  burn 
ing  reflection  of  its  sands.  The  contrast  of  this  realm 
of  desolation,  and  its  storm-piled  drifts  of  gray,  brown, 
and  dusky  sand,  lying  so  near  the  groves,  and  green 
fields,  and  blooming  gardens  which  surrounded  the  pyra 
mids  and  extended  to  the  base  of  the  ridge,  was  very 
remarkable.  One  part  looked  like  the  abode  of  Osiris, 
full  of  beauty,  and  light,  and  happiness :  the  other  like 
that  of  Typhon,  or  the  spirit  of  evil,  who  strove,  ever 
battling  with  his  storms  of  sand,  to  invade,  overwhelm, 
and  desolate  these  scenes  of  beauty  !  And,  ere  many 
centuries,  his  arid  hosts  threaten  to  sweep  past  the  pyra 
mids,  and  to  overleap  the  very  gates  of  Memphis  !  But 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  271 

at  present,  all  the  land  within  the  hills  is  a  region  of  de 
light,  presenting  a  pleasing  contrast,  with  its  perennial 
green,  to  the  desolate  and  savage  realm  of  the  desert. 
Luxuriantly  covered  with  verdure;  bright  with  golden' 
wheat-fields,  charming  green  meadows,  foliage  of  every 
variety ;  groups  of  trees  rising  from  a  thousand  courts  ; 
countless  villages  everywhere,  and  myriads  of  brilliant  } 
Jakes,  it  was  a  scene  of  unmixed  beauty.  Jizeli,  a  little 
to  the  east,  with  its  temple-palaces  and  gardens,  filled 
the  view.  Farther  east  lay,  first,  the  glorious  city  of 
Apis,  its  squares,  avenues,  lakes,  groves,  fanes,  and 
monuments,  all  open  to  the  eye  like  a  magnificent 
picture.  Beyond  the  glittering  Nile,  the  banks  of  which 
were  rich  with  fertility  and  adorned  with  villas,  I  beheld 
Raamses,  and  still  farther  Pythom,  the  treasure-cities, 
in  the  fair  expanse  of  the  land  of  Goshen, — alas  !  beauti 
ful  only  to  the  eye,  for  upon  it  rests  the  daik  shadow  of 
^Hebrew  bondage ;  and  south,  a  few  miles,  after  a  thou 
sand  scenes  of  rural  beauty  fill  the  vision,  towers,  like 
the  throne  of  the  kingdom,  the  city  of  the  Lord  of  the 
Sun,  its  gorgeous  temple  and  forest  of  obelisks  flinging 
back  the  sunbeams  with  a  splendor  that  fills  the  soul 
with  wonder  and  delight! 

y^  O  happy,  glorious,  mighty  Egypt !  what  a  blessed 
and  favored  land  art  thou!  With  one  foot  upon  the 
seven  mouths  of  thy  mighty  river,  another  upon 
Ethiopia,  and  thy  head  in  the  clouds,  all  nations  bow 
down  to  thy  might  and  greatness !  Leader  of  the 
kingdoms  of  the  earth !  what  a  future  is  thine,  if 
thy  kings  and  rulers  are  true  to  thee  and  to  them- 
selvesj"  • 

The  hierarch  heard  me  utter  these  words,  for  I  spake 


272  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

aloud  in  my  wonder  at  the  glory  of  this  kingdom  and 
the  magnificence  of  her  power. 

/°"  The  future  of  Egypt,  my  prince,  no  man  can  fure- 

/  see.     But  the  sacred   books  contain  a  prophecy,  that 

during  one  cycle  of  a  soul,  three  thousand  years,  she 

/      will  be  a  nation  despised  and  ruled  by  kings  of  another 

race,  and  all  that  will  remain  to  her  will  be  her  defaced 

pyramids  and  temples  ;  the  marvel  of  which  will  bring 

\      strangers  from  the  ends  of  the  earth,  curious  to  gaze 

\     upon  these  mute  witnesses  of  her  ancient  power  and 

\glory." 

"The  gods  forbid !"  I  said  warmly. 

"  The  gods,"  he  answered,  "  govern  the  earth,  and  do 
what  they  will  with  its  kingdoms.  These  sacred  papyri 
also  speak  of  Tyre  and  prophesy  its  desolation,  and  say 
that  the  empire  of  commerce  shall  be  removed  to  an 
unknown  world  beyond  the  great  sea  of  the  West,  and 
that  a  race  yet  unborn  shall  sway  the  destinies  of  the 
earth,  and  another  religion  shall  prevail  in  the  hearts  of 
men." 

"What  are  these  papyri?"  I  asked. 

"  Books  which  have  been  handed  down  from  the  first 
kings,  who  in  their  turn  received  them  from  the  ancient 
gods." 

I  turned  away  sorrowfully  at  the  thought  of  this  pre 
diction,  my  dear  mother.  The  idea  that  Tyre,  which 
now  sits  a  queen  upon  the  shores  of  her  sea,  will  ever 
be  desolate,  is  not  possible  for  me  to  conceive.  May 
her  prosperity  and  peace  be  prolonged  to  the  ends  of 
the  ages  ! 

We  now  .turned  to  descend  this  elevation,  from 
whence  the  heart  of  Egypt  lay  open  before  us.  The 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  273 

sight  of  the  sheer  eight  hundred  feet  along  the  inclined 
side  of  the  pyramid  was  fearful.  The  projections  which 
were  to  receive  our  feet  were  not  apparent ;  and  we 
commenced  the  descent  with  the  greatest  caution,  being 
obliged  to  lower  ourselves  from  block  to  block ;  and 
where  the  encasement  of  tiles  remained,  we  were  'sus 
tained  by  the  iron  heads  of  short  spears  with  which  each 
of  us  was  provided,  a  hook  being  secured  at  the  oppo 
site  end. 

At  length  we  reached  the  broad  terrace  which  sur 
rounds  the  pyramid,  and  upon  which  are  statues  and 
small  sphinxes  facing  outward.  Between  two  of  large 
size,  representing  Osiris  and  Isis,  we  descended  a  broad 
flight  of  steps  to  an  ancient  gate,  which,  as  I  was  told, 
led  to  the  entrance  of  the  pyramid.  The  passage,  how 
ever,  has  not  been  opened  for  many  centuries — the  piety 
of  the  Pharaohs  permitting  the  mighty  dead  to  rest  in 
their  granite  tumuli  undisturbed  by  curiosity  or  cu 
pidity. 

When  we  had  crossed  the  court,  the  priest  ascended 
with  me  one  of  the  towers  of  the  pylon.  From  thence 
he  showed  me  a  mass  of  rock  lying  in  a  position  which 
answered,  in  reference  to  the  main  pyramid,  to  that 
which  the  sphinx  occupied. 

"Seest  thou,  O  prince,"  he  said,  "that  isolated  rock? 
The  ancients  intended  to  chisel  it  also  into  a  sphinx  to 
match  this  one,  for  they  used  to  place  them  in  pairs, 
like  their  obelisks.  But  the  grand  conception  has  never 
been  carried  out ;  and  you  perceive  that  our  noble  queen, 
Amense,  is  erecting  the  pyramid  of  her  years  so  near,  that 
it  in  part  stands  upon  it.  Two  such  sphinxes  crouched 
in  front  of  Cheops  would  have  been  an  entrance  te 


274:  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

the  mausoleum  worthy  of  it,  and  of  him  who  reposes 
therein.  Instead  of  carrying  out  this  original  design, 
the  great  temple  and  colossal  wings  have  been  built, 
and  the  avenue  from  the  sphinx  so  turned  aside  by 
a  slight  angle,  as  to  terminate  at  the  central  pylon  ; 
thereby  making  one  sphinx  answer  the  purpose  of  two, 
but  at  the  sacrifice  of  proportion ;  for  the  twofold 
grandeur  of  the  combined  pyramids  lessens  the  impres 
sion  of  the  single  sphinx,  while  the  two  reposing  before 
Cheops  alone,  would  have  been  in  keeping  with  its  ma 
jesty." 

As  it  was  now  sunset,  we  hastened  to  our  chariot  and 
drove  back  to  the  city,  along  the  magnificent  causeway 
I  have  before  described. 

Upon  my  return  to  the  palace  of  the  high-priest,  and 
after  describing  to  his  beautiful  daughter,  Luxora,  the 
incidents  of  my  visit,  she  said,  with  an  arch  smile — 

"  You  ought  not,  O  Sesostris,  to  have  come  away 
without  seeing  the  emerald  table  of  Hermes !" 

"  I  heard  nothing  of  it,  lady,"  I  answered.  "  I  have, 
moreover,  seen  splendor  enough  for  one  day.  What 
and  where  is  this  table  ?" 

"  In  the  central  chamber  of  the  great  pyramid.  The 
people  of  Egypt  believe  the  tradition,  and  so  also  have 
some  of  its  kings." 

"What  is  the  tradition?"  I  asked.  «  But  first,  do 
you  believe  it  ?" 

"  With  all  my  heart.  I  never  doubted  it  since  I  was 
a  child,"  she  answered,  smiling,  yet  writh  a  tone  of  sin 
cerity.  "  My  father  thinks  if  it  were  true,  it  would 
have  been  removed  when  the  god  Noachis  was  placed 
there." 


ISRAEL    IN   BONDAGE.  275 

"  It  is  not  in  the  chamber  of  the  sarcophagus,  sister," 
said  Osiria,  the  sister  younger  than  Luxora — a  maiden 
remarkable  for  her  sprightliness  and  intelligence ;  "  it 
is  in  a  vault  of  crystal  under  the  pyramid." 

"  You  are  right,  my  dear  sister,"  replied  the  elder, 
gracefully.  "  I  will  tell  the  prince  the  legend." 

"  Then  I  will  tell  him  mine"  said  Osiria,  with  an  arch 
look.  "  I  know  he  will  like  mine  the  best." 

"  Because  he  likes  you  the  best,  is  it?"  her  sister  re 
plied,  playfully.  "  But  have  a  care,  Osiria  ;  our  guest 
is  betrothed  to  a  great  princess  in  his  own  country." 

"  That  need  not  prevent  him  from  being  my  good 
friend  in  this,"  responded  Osiria,  pleasantly. 

"  Your  tradition,  noble  Luxora  ?"  I  asked. 

"  It  is  this.  In  the  ancient  days  of  the  earth,  before 
the  deluge  of  the  gods,  the  thrice  great  Hermes,  who 
knew  all  the  secrets  of  alchemy,  engraved  them  upon 
an  emerald  table  and  placed  it  in  a  cave,  which  he 
sealed  up.  His  motive  for  doing  this  was  both  to  pre 
serve  them  and  to  conceal  them  from  men — for  the  race 
of  man  had  grown  so  wicked,  that  they  made  use  of 
what  they  knew  of  alchemy  to  injure  one  another  and 
defy  the  deities,  answering  back  the  thunder  of  heaven 
with  thunders  of  their  own.  Over  this  cave  the  first 
pyramid  was  built,  and  there  the  emerald  table,  with 
all  its  secrets,  so  dear  to  our  sex,  has  remained  to  this 
hour!" 

1  thanked  Luxora  for  her  legend,  and  assured  her 
that  I  had  quite  as  much  curiosity  to  see  the  wonderful 
emerald  as  she  had. 

"  But  if  it  were  discovered,"  said  Osiria,  "who  could 
read  and  understand  the  writing  upon  it  ?  Now,  O 


276  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,   OR 

prince,  hear  my  tradition;  for,  having  visited  the  pyia- 
mids,  it  will  be  agreeable  to  you  to  hear  all  that  is  said 
about  them." 

"  I  will  listen  with  the  greatest  pleasure,"  I  answered. 

But,  dear  mother,  I  will  here  close  this  long  letter, 
and  reserve,  for  the  commencement  of  my  next,  the 
singular  tradition  related  to  me  by  Osiria. 

Your  affectionate  son, 

SESOSTRIS, 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  277 


LETTEE    XVII. 

PALACE  OF  THE  HIEEAEOH,  AT  MEMPHIS. 

MY   MUCH   HONORED   MOTHER  I 

I  HAVE  much  of  interest  concerning  which  to 
write  to  you  in  this  letter;  but  will  first  redeem  my 
promise  to  give  you  the  traditional  story  narrated  by 
the  lovely  Osiria,  daughter  of  the  pontiff  of  Memphis. 
Her  father  came  in  as  she  commenced,  and  smilingly 
said — - 

"  Daughter,  are  you  about  to  overthrow  the  prince's 
faith  in  the  true  history  of  the  pyramids,  by  a  fanciful 
legend?" 

"  No,  my  dear  father,"  she  answered ;  "  I  only  desire 
him  to  know  all  he  can  about  these  mighty  monuments 
of  a  former  world,  and  if  he  does  not  believe  with  me  in 
the  legend,  it  will  at  least  interest  him." 

I  assured  the  beautiful  maiden  that  it  would  without 
doubt  interest  me,  and  possibly  upon  hearing  it  I  might 
receive  it  "  as  the  most  reliable  account  of  the  origin  of 
the  pyramids." 

"  Not  in  opposition,"  said  the  high-priest,  with  a  smile, 
"  to  the  sacred  books." 

"  Not  in  opposition,"  said  Luxora,  archly,  "  to  my 
emerald  table." 


278  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

"  Let  the  prince,  dear  father,  and  sister,  hear  and 
judge,"  said  the  youngest  daughter;  and  commenced  as 
follows : 

"  A  very  long  time  ago — before  the  time  of  the  vast 
deluge,  when  all  the  oceans  that  roll  around  the  world's 
verge  met  in  the  centre  and  overflowed  the  highest 
mountains — a  king,  whose  name  was  Saurida  Salhouhis, 
was  informed  by  his  astrologers  that  seven  stars  had 
fallen  into  the  sea.  betokening  a  great  overflow  thereof. 
He  answered,  'The  mountains  of  my  kingdom  are  higher 
than  the  ocean,  and  will  defy  its  waves.' 

"  The  next  year  his  astrologers  again  came  to  him,  and 
said  that  the  sun  was  covered  with  dark  spots,  and  that 
a  comet  was  visible  with  a  crest  of  fire,  and  threatened 
evil  to  the  earth.  The  same  night  the  king  dreamed 
that  the  mountains  became  plains,  and  that  all  the  stars 
of  heaven  were  extinguished.  On  awakening  he  called 
his  one  hundred  and  forty -four  priests,  and  commanding 
them  to  consult  the  gods,  received  for  answer,  that  the 
earth  was  to  be  drowned.  Thereupon  he  commenced 
building  the  two  pyramids,  and  ordered  vaults  to  be 
made  under  them,  which  he  filled  with  the  riches  and 
treasures  of  his  kingdom.  He  prepared  seven  tables  or 
shields  of  pure  gold,  on  which  he  engraved  all  the 
sciences  of  the  earth,  all  the  knowledge  he  had  learned 
from  his  wise  men,  the  names  of  the  subtle  alkalies,  and 
alakakirs,  and  the  uses  and  hurts  of  them;  and  all  the 
mysteries  of  astrology,  physics,  geometry,  and  arith 
metic." 

"These  seven  golden  tables  of  my  sister's  legend," 
said  Luxora,  laughing,  "  are  not  near  so  wonderful  aa 
my  table  of  emerald." 


ISKAKL   IN   BONDAGE.  279 

"Lest,"  said  Osiria,  "you  should  imagine  I  arn  draw 
ing  upon  my  fancy,  I  will  read  to  you  the  remainder  01 
the  tradition  from  the  ancient  book  in  the  keeping  of  the 
priests  of  Amun,  in  the  Thebaid,  given  me  by  my  mother, 
who  was  the  daughter  of  the  priest  of  the  sacred  house 
there." 

Having  thus  spoken  the  maiden  retired,  and,  after  a 
few  minutes  absence,  returned,  followed  by  a  Hebrew 
woman  carrying  a  pictured  scroll,  such  as  I  had  never 
before  seen.  Aided  by  her  attendant,  she  unrolled  it 
for  several  cubits,  and  having  found  the  legend,  com 
menced  to  read  (a  rare  art  among  Egyptian  ladies,  ex 
cept  daughters  of  the  learned  priests)  as  follows, — the 
tall  and  stately  Hebrew  supporting  the  roll  rather  with 
an  air  of  royal  condescension  than  of  submission  : 

"  After  the  king,  Saurida  Salhouhis,  had  given  orders 
for  the  building  of  the  pyramids,  the  workmen  cut  out 
gigantic  columns,  vast  stones,  and  wonderful  pillars 
hewn  of  single  rocks.  From  the  mountains  of  Ethiopia 
they  fetched  enormous  masses  of  granite,  and  from 
Nubia  of  gray  porphyry,  and  made  with  these  the  founda 
tions  of  the  pyramids,  fastening  the  stones  together  by 
bars  of  lead  and  bands  of  iron.  They  built  the  gates 
forty  cubits  under  ground,  and  made  the  height  of  them 
one  hundred  royal  cubits,  each  of  which  is  equal  to  six 
of  ours ;  and  each  side  also  was  made  a  hundred  royal 
cubits  in  extent.  The  beginning  of  this  undertaking 
happened  under  a  fortunate  horoscope,  and  resulted 
successfully.  After  he  had  finished  the  larger  of  the 
pyramids,  the  king  covered  it  with  blue  satin  from  the 
top  to  the  bottom,  and  appointed  a  solemn  festival,  at 
which  were  present  all  the  inhabitants  of  his  kingdom. 


280  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

"Then  in  this  great  pyramid  he  built  thirty  treasur^- 
chambers,  which  he  filled  with  an  immense  store  of 
riches, — precious  vessels,  signatures  of  agates,  blood 
stones,  and  cornelian,  instruments  of  iron,  earthen  vases, 
arms  which  rust  not,  and  crystal  which  might  be  bended 
yet  not  broken,  strange  shells,  and  deadly  poisons,  with 
many  other  things  besides.  He  made,  in  the  west  pyra 
mid,  a  subterranean  hall  with  divers  spheres  and  stars  in 
the  vaulted  roof,  placed  in  their  celestial  houses,  as  they 
appear  in  the  sky,  each  in  his  own  aspect ;  and  he  de 
posited  here  the  perfumes  which  are  burned  to  them, 
and  the  books  that  treat  of  their  mysteries.  He  placed, 
also,  in  the  colored  pyramid  the  scrolls  of  the  priests,  in 
chests  of  black  marble,  every  chest  having  upon  it  a 
book  with  leaves  of  brass,  in  which  were  inscribed  the 
duties  and  wonders  of  the  priesthood,  its  nature,  and  the 
mode  of  worship  in  his  time ;  and,  in  a  chest  of  iron, 
were  seven  books  which  revealed  what  was,  and  is,  and 
shall  be  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  time. 

"  In  every  pyramid  he  placed  a  treasurer  :  the  treas 
urer  of  the  western  pyramid  was  a  statue  of  red  marble- 
stone,  standing  upright  by  the  door  of  the  treasure-house, 
— a  lance  in  his  hand,  and  about  his  head  a  wreathed 
serpent.  Whosoever  came  near  the  door,  and  stood 
still,  the  serpent  entwined  about  the  throat,  and,  killing 
him,  returned  to  its  place. 

"  The  treasurer  of  the  colored  pyramid  was  an  idol  of 
black  agate,  sitting  upon  a  throne,  with  a  lance  in  its 
hand,  and  its  eyes  open  and  shining.  If  any  mortal 
looked  upon  it,  he  heard  a  voice  so  terrible  that  his 
senses  fled  away  from  him,  and  he  fell  prostrate  upon 
his  face  and  died. 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  281 

"  The  treasurer  of  his  seven  tables  of  gold  was  a  statue 
of  stone,  called  Albutis,  in  a  sitting  posture  :  whosoever 
looked  towards  it,  was  drawn  to  the  statue  till  he  was 
pressed  against  it  so  hard  that  he  died  there.  Over  the 
portal  of  each  he  caused  to  be  written  : 

"  '  I,  King  Sauricl,  built  the  pyramids  in  six  years.  lie 
that  comes  after  me,  and  -says  he  is  equal  to  me,  let  him 
destroy  them  in  six  hundred  years.  It  is  easier  to  pluck 
down  than  to  build  up.  I  also  covered  them,  when  I 
had  finished  them,  with  satin ;  and  let  him  cover  them 
with  mats  of  grass.' 

"  Here  ends  the  record  on  the  scroll,"  said  the  maiden. 
"  Miriam,  thou  wilt  roll  it  up,  and  place  it  whence  I 
took  it,  in  the  sacred  shrine  of  books." 

The  Hebrew  woman,  whose  appearance  was  so  re 
markable  for  dignity  and  a  certain  air  of  command,  that 
I  could  not  but  regard  her  with  interest,  then  rolled  up 
the  book,  and  moved  quietly,  but  with  a  stately  step, 
from  the  room.  As  she  went  out,  attracted  by  my  close 
scrutiny,  she  fixed  upon  me  a  large  pair  of  splendid 
eyes,  dark  and  beautiful,  and  lighted  up  by  the  inward 
fire  of  an  earnest  spirit.  Her  age  was  about  eight  or 
nine  and  forty.  I  do  not  know  why,  in  looking  at  her,  I 
thought  of  Remeses,  now  at  Thebes,  waiting  to  assemble 
his  vast  army ;  perhaps  there  was  a  style  of  face  and 
shape  of  the  eye  that  recalled  him. 

Q*  Who  is  this  Hebrew  woman  ?"  I  asked ;  for  though 
I  have  been  several  days  a  guest  of  the  high-priest,  I 
Lad  not  before  seen  her. 

"  My  assistant  and  copier  of  the  scrolls  and  papyrus 
leaves,  in  the  Hall  of  the  Sacred  Books,"  answered 
Osiria ;  "for  know,  O  prince,  that  I  am  my  father's 


THE    PILLAR   OF    FJRE,    OR 

scribe,  and  have  the  care  of  all  the  rolls  of  the  tern 
pie." 

"  Nor  can  any  temple,"  interposed  the  hierarch,  "boast 
so  orderly  a  chamber  of  books  as  mine ;  neither  do  I 
see  any  copies  of  prayers  and  rites  so  beautifully  done 
as  those  by  Osiria." 

"  I  do  not  deserve  all  the  praise,  my  father,"  answered 
the  maiden ;  "  for  the  rich  coloring  of  the  heading  car 
touches  of  chapters,  as  well  as  the  graceful  form  of  the 
characters,  is  due  to  Miriam." 

"  What  the  servant  does  the  master  is  praised  for," 
answered  the  priest,  smilingly.  "  But  you  have  not  told 
the  prince  the  whole  of  the  tradition." 

"It  is  true.  I  must  now  state  how  the  pyramid  was 
opened  by  one  of  the  Phoenician  conqueror  kings.  This 
Philistine  warrior,  whose  barbaric  name  I  have  forgot 
ten,  and  do  not  wish  to  remember,  on  seeing  the  pyra 
mids,  demanded  to  know  what  was  within  them.  He 
was  answered  by  the  priest  of  the  sphinx,  who  is  the 
guardian  of  the  two  pyramids,  that  4  they  contained  the 
embalmed  bodies  of  the  ancient  gods,  and  first  kings  of 
men,  the  emerald  and  golden  tablets,  and  all  the  treas 
ures  of  gold,  silver,  and  works  of  art,  and  every  thing 
which  appertained  to  the  world  before  the  deluge, — all 
of  which  had  been  preserved  by  them  from  the  waters, 
and  were  now  therein.' 

"  Hearing  this,  this  king  told  them  he  would  have 
them  opened.  All  the  priests  assured  him  that  it  could 
not  be  done ;  but  he  replied,  '  I  will  have  it  certainly 
done.'  So  the  engineers  of  his  army  opened  a  place  in 
the  great  pyramid  by  means  of  fire  and  vinegar ;  smiths 
aided  the  work  with  sharpened  iron  and  copper  wedges, 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  283 

and  huge  engines  to  remove  the  stones.  It  was  a  vast 
work,  as  the  thickness  of  the  wall  was  twenty  cubits. 
They  were  many  months  reaching  an  apartment  within, 
where  they  found  a  ewer  made  of  bright-green  emerald, 
containing  a  thousand  dinars,  very  weighty,  one  hun 
dred  chcenixes  of  gold-dust,  twenty  blocks  of  ebony,  a 
hundred  tusks  of  ivory,  and  a  thousand  ounces  of  rings 
of  Arabic  gold. 

"  This  was  all  he  found,  for  beyond  this  small  cham 
ber  the  workmen  could  not  penetrate,  by  reason  of  the 
three  treasure-keepers,  namely, — the  awful  statue,  with 
an  enwreathed  serpent  upon  his  head ;  the  statue  of 
agate,  with  the  terrible  voice ;  and  the  statue  of  stone, 
with  the  power  to  draw  every  one  to  him,  and  press  him 
to  death  between  his  arm  and  his  iron  breast." 

"  Then  said  the  king,  '  Cast  up  the  cost  of  making  this 
entrance.'  So  the  money  expended  being  computed, 
lo !  it  was  the  same  sum  which  they  had  found ;  it 
neither  exceeded  nor  was  defective.  So  he  closed  up 
the  opening  and  went  his  ways,  seeing  that  the  gods 
were  against  him. 

"Many  years  afterwards,  another  king  opened  the 
other  pyramid,  and  found  a  passage  which  descended  far 
below  in  the  earth,  in  the  direction  of  the  centre  of  the 
pyramid.  By  it  he  reached  a  subterranean  chamber  far 
beneath  the  level  of  the  foundation,  almost  directly 
under  the  apex.  In  it  was  'a  square  well,  on  each  side 
of  which  wrere  doors  opening  into  subterranean  pas 
sages  ;  these  he  followed,  and  at  length  reached  a  gate 
of  brass,  which  he  perceived  led  into  the  foundations  of 
the  greater  pyramid.  But  he  could  not  open  it,  nor  has 
any  power  been  sufficient  to  do  so  to  this  day.  Return 


284:  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

ing  lie  found  another  side  passage,  leading  into  tlie  pyr 
amid  and  so  upward,  to  a  vaulted  room,  containing  the 
mighty  sarcophagus  of  the  great  Noah.  This  dead  mon 
arch  of  two  worlds,  before  and  after  the  deluge,  was 
reposing  in  calm  majesty  in  his  colossal  mummy-case, 
which  was  covered  with  plates  of  gold.  Upon  his  head 
was  a  crown  of  emerald  olive-leaves,  each  leaf  an  em 
erald  ;  and  upon  his  breast,  a  white  dove,  made  of  one 
pearl.  Leaving  with  awe  the  father  of  the  world  to  his 
sublime  and  eternal  repose,  guarded  only  by  the  pure 
white  dove,  the  king,  in  retiring,  found,  to  his  great 
joy,  a  narrow  passage,  which  led  upward  towards  the 
top  of  the  pyramid.  It  conducted  him  and  his  attend 
ants  to  a  chamber  with  twelve  sides,  on  each  of  which 
was  pictured  one  of  the  constellations  in  the  path  of  the 
precession  of  the  equinoxes,  in  their  motion  towards  the 
west.  The  floor  was  of  polished  ivory,  inlaid  with  silver 
stars,  dispersed  over  it  as  they  appeared  in  their  heav 
enly  places  when  the  pyramid  was  completed.  The 
seven  planets,  including  the  sun  and  the  moon,  were 
represented  in  the  ceiling,  each  one  in  a  panel  of  silver, 
with  its  deity, — all  inlaid  with  silver  and  precious  stones. 
"  In  the  centre  of  this  '  Hall  of  the  Universe,'  was 
a  hollow  stone  :  when  the  king  entered  the  chamber, 
the  stone  vanished  at  the  pressure  of  his  feet  on  the 
floor,  and  a  statue  larger  than  life,  of  pure  crystal,  was 
displayed  to  his  sight.  This  statue  represented  a  king 
upon  whom  was  a  breastplate  of  gold  set  with  jewels; 
on  his  breast  was  a  stone  of  incalculable  price,  and  over 
his  head,  a  carbuncle  of  the  shape  and  bigness  of  the 
sacred  egg  of  the  phoenix,  shining  like  the  light  of  the 
day.  He  held  upon  his  left  arm  a  shield  formed  of 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  285 

one  single  topaz,  upon  which  were  characters  written 
with  a  pen,  that  neither  the  king,  nor  the  wise  men, 
nor  astrologers,  nor  magicians,  nor  the  priests  who  knew 
all  languages,  could  interpret.  Suddenly  darkness  h'lled 
the  place,  their  torches  were  extinguished,  and  save  only 
the  king  who  had  with  him  his  diamond-set  signet, 
which  shed  light  before  his  steps,  no  one  ever  returned 
to  the  entrance ;  nor  conld  he  ever  find  the  chamber 
of  the  statue  again.  But  the  first  passage  to  the  sub 
terranean  chamber  remains  open  to  this  day,  by  which 
men  descend ;  and  others  are  from  time  to  time  discov 
ered  ;  the  treasury-chambers,  however,  remain  sealed  to 
the  eyes  of  men  !" 

When  the  intelligent  Osiria  had  ended  her  account,  I 
gratefully  expressed  to  her  my  appreciation  of  her  kind 
ness  in  giving  me  such  interesting  information.  She 
accepted  my  thanks  in  the  graceful  manner  which  char 
acterizes  Egyptian  ladies  of  rank.  The  magnificent 
Luxor  a  said,  with  a  charming  air  of  feigned  provoca 
tion — 

"  "With  your  brilliant  tradition,  sister,  you  have  quite 
thrown  into  the  shade  my  poor  solitary  emerald  table !'? 

"  There  is  no  doubt  whatever,  O  Sesostris,"  said  their 
father,  who  had  listened  to  the  tradition  as  he  sat  in  his 
ivory  chair,  in  the  rich  undress  vestments  he  wore 
when  not  engaged  in  official  acts  in  the  temple,  "  or 
rather,  we  of  the  priesthood  do  not  doubt,  that  the  pyra 
mids,  at  least  the  pair  so  nearly  of  a  size  and  so  close 
together,  were  builded  before  the  deluge,  which,  ac 
cording  to  our  astrologers,  took  place  under  the  dynasty 
of  the  demigods,  about  one  thousand  five  hundred  and 
forty  years  ago,  when  the  world  was  nearly  two  thou- 


286  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

sand  four  hundred  years  old ;  but  our  books  of  mysteries 
give  many  more  thousands  of  years!  In  the  most  an 
cient  temple  of  Thoth,  at  Thebel,  which  is  the  true 
astronomical  capital  of  the  kingdom,  as  well  as  the 
ecclesiastical  one,  there  is  a  tablet  in  the  ceiling  of  the 
adytum,  representing  the  configuration  of  the  seven 
planets  as  they  existed  on  the  first  day  after  the  crea 
tion.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  world,  and  since 
that  day  the  heavenly  bodies  have  not  stood  thus  again  ! 
Upon  the  wall  beneath  it  is  a  stele,  portraying  their  posi 
tion  at  the  time  of  the  Noachic  deluge.  The  arc  of  their 
celestial  motion,  between  the  creation  and  the  deluge, 
being  accurately  measured  in  the  progress  of  centuries, 
by  astrologers  of  the  houses  of  the  mysteries,  compared 
with  the  arc  measured  for  one  thousand  years  since  the 
deluge,  shows  that  the  fixed  stars,  between  the  crea 
tion  and  the  deluge,  moved  thirty  spaces  of  the  thousand 
years  along  the  zodiac  westward.  That  is,  the  arc  of 
the  zodiac  was  thirty  times  as  large  between  the  crea 
tion  and  deluge,  as  between  the  deluge  and  the  end  of 
a  thousand  years  after  it ;  while  the  seven  planets 
changed  their  places  in  the  same  proportions  of  time 
and  change.  Hence,  guided  by  the  march  of  the 
heavenly  bodies,  they  teach  that  thirty  thousand  years 
elapsed  between  the  creation  and  the  deluge ;  since  it 
would  take  that  time  to  change  the  configuration  of  the 
stars  so  greatly  as  to  subtend  so  vast  an  arc  as  their  pre 
cession  drew  along  the  zodiacal  path !  But,  as  I  have 
said,  the  sacred  books  of  the  priests,  who  are  governed 
only  by  the  planetary  constellations,  aided  by  tradition, 
give  the  number  of  years  I  have  previously  stated." 
"  Do  not  the  Egyptian  astrologers,"  I  asked,  "  give  a 


ISliAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  287 

period  for  a  year  of  the  heavens  to  make  one  revolution 
through  the  zodiac  ?" 

"  It  is  one  of  their  mysteries.  Finishing  upon  a  chart 
the  arc  of  precession  which  they  measure  on  the  zodiac, 
they  measure  the  whole  circle  it  will  sweep,  and  calcu 
late  a  cycle  or  period  of  thirty-six  thousand,  years,  as 
the  duration  of  one  grand  year  of  the  universe !" 

"  As,  then,  thirty  thousand  years  of  this  year  of  the 
stars  passed  before  the  deluge,  if  the  astrologers  are 
correct  in  their  sidereal  calculations,"  I  remarked,  "  there 
are  but  four  thousand  and  four  hundred  and  fifty  years 
to  the  end  of  the  first  celestial  year  of  creation !" 

"  "Which,"  said  Luxora,  "  they  teach  will  terminate 
time  ;  and  the  earth  will  then  be  recreated,  and  there 
will  be  a  new  starry  world,  and  the  year  of  the  universe 
will  be  doubled  to  seventy-two  thousand  years ;  and 
when  twelve  of  these  vast  years  are  completed,  the 
creation  will  be  dissolved  and  all  things  return  to  noth 
ing  as  before  the  beginning  of  time,  and  the  souls  of 
men  will  be  absorbed  in  the  Divine  Essence  !" 

"  You  are  remarkably  well  versed  in  astrology,"  I  said 
to  the  noble-looking  young  women. 

"  We  are  priest's  daughters,"  she  answered ;  "  and 
from  our  father  we  derive  all  our  knowledge." 

"  Can  you,  then,"  I  asked,  "  explain  to  me  one  thing 
that  has  been  alluded  to  in  our  conversation  ?  I  am  de 
sirous  of  knowing  something  about  the  phoenix,  which 
I  see  even  now  represented,  inlaid  in  ivory,  upon  this 
table  of  vases." 

"  I  fear  that  I  shall  not  be  able,  prince,  to  make  you 
understand,  what,  I  confess,  I  am  not  well  informed 
upon.  The  phoenix  has  always  been  a  mystery  to  me." 


288  THE   PILLAR   OF    FIRE,    OR 

"  I  understand  the  bird,"  said  Osiria,  "  to  be  the  sym 
bol  of  a  star.  But  I  have  never  fully  comprehended 
it.  I  have  doubts  if  there  be  such  an  extraordinary  bird. 
Will  you,  father,  gratify  us  and  the  Prince  of  Tyre  at 
the  same  time  ?" 

The  kind  and  courteous  hierarch,  before  replying,  laid 
down  a  beautiful  fishing-rod  which  he  was  arranging — 
it  being  a  favorite  pastime  of  his  leisure  to  sit  in  the 
pavilion  before  his  windows,  and  amuse  himself  by  fish 
ing  in  the  oval  lake  that  fills  one  of  the  areas  of  his 
palace,  and  around  which  runs  a  columnar  arcade,  in 
whose  cool  shade  we  take  our  walks  for  exercise  in  the 
heat  of  the  day.  And  this  amusement,  my  dear  mother, 
is  not  only  a  favorite  one  with  him,  but  with  all  Egypt 
ian  gentlemen ;  who  also  delight  in  hunting  the  gazelle 
and  other  animals — keeping  for  the  purpose  leashes  of 
trained  dogs,  some  of  them  very  beautiful,  and  as  swift 
as  the  winds.  They  are  singularly  fond  of  having  dogs 
accompany  them  in  their  walks,  and  adorn  them  with 
gold  or  silver  collars.  The  ladies  also  have  pet  dogs, 
chosen  either  for  their  beauty,  or — odd  distinction — for 
their  peculiar  ugliness.  Luxora  boasts  a  little  dog,  of 
the  rare  and  admired  Osirtasen  breed,  which  is  as  beau 
tiful  and  symmetrical  as  a  gazelle,  with  soft,  expressive 
eyes,  and  graceful  movements ;  while  Osiria  prides 
herself  on  a  pet  animal,  the  ugliness  of  which,  as  it 
seems  to  me,  is  its  only  recommendation.  Remeses  has 
a  noble,  lion-like  dog,  that  he  admits  into  his  private 
sitting-room,  and  has  for  his  attendant  at  all  times  when 
lie  walks  abroad.  Nearly  every  lord  has  his  hounds ; 
and  to  own  a  handsome  dog  is  as  much  a  mark  of  rank, 
as  is  the  slender  acacia  cane. 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  289 

"The  phoenix,  according  to  the  ancients,"  said  the 
priest,  "  is  a  bird  of  which  there  exists  but  one  specimen 
in  the  world.  It  comes  flying  from  the  east  once  in 
the  course  of  six  hundred  and  fifty-one  years,  many 
other  birds  with  dazzling  wings  bearing  it  company. 
It  reaches  the  City  of  the  Sun  about  the  time  of  the 
vernal  equinox,  where  it  burns  itself  upon  the  roof  of 
the  temple,  in  the  fire  of  the  concentrated  rays  of  the 
sun,  as  Ihey  are  reflected  from  the  golden  shield  thereon 
with  consuming  radiance.  No  sooner  is  it  consumed  to 
ashes,  than  an  egg  appears  in  the  funeral  pyre,  which 
the  heat 'that  consumed  the  parent  warms  instantly 
into  life,  and  out  of  it  the  same  phoenix  comes  forth,  in 
full  plumage,  and  spreading  its  wings  it  flies  away 
again,  to  return  no  more  until  the  expiration  of  six  hun 
dred  and  fifty-one  years!" 

"  This  is  a  very  extraordinary  story,"  I  said. 

"  It  is,"  answered  the  high-priest ;  "  yet  it  has  a  sim 
ple  explanation." 

"  I  should  be  gratified  to  hear  it,"  I  answered. 

"  Do  you  believe,  dear  father,"  asked  Osiria,  "there 
ever  was  such  a  bird  ?" 

"  I  have  seen  it,"  answered  the  priest,  mysteriously. 
"  But  I  will  gratify  your  curiosity.  The  first  recorded 
appearance  of  this  phoenix  was  nineteen  hundred  and 
two  years  ago,  in  the  reign  of  Sesostris,  a  king  of  the 
twelfth  Egyptian  dynasty." 

"  The  Pharaoh  for  whom  I  am  named,"  I  said. 

"  How  came  you,  O  prince,  to  have  an  Egyptian 
name?"  asked  Luxora. 

"The  memory  of  Sesostris  the  Great  was  highly 
venerated  by  my  father,  and  hence  his  selection  of 

13 


290  THE    PILLAR    OF   FIRE,    OR 

it  for  me ;  besides,  I  am  related  to  the  Phoenician 
kings." 

I  had  no  sooner  made  this  unlucky  confession,  than 
the  two  sisters  looked  at  their  father,  then  interchanged 
glances,  and  appeared  quite  embarrassed.  I  at  once 
reflected  that  the  memory  of  the  Phoenician  dynasty  is 
distasteful  to  the  Egyptians ;  and  that,  by  confessing  my 
alliance  with  them,  I  had  risked  their  good-will.  But 
the  surprise  passed  off  instantly,  for  they  were  too  well- 
bred  to  show  any  continued  feeling,  and  the  priest 
resumed — 

"  The  last  appearance  wras  six  hundred  years  ago, 
and  in  fifty-one  years  he  will  reappear,  to  consume 
himself  in  the  burning  rays  of  the  sun." 

"  I  hope  I  shall  be  alive  to  see  it,"  said  Osiria,  with 
animation. 

"  This  singular  myth,"  pursued  the  hierarch,  u  signi 
fies  to  us  of  the  priests  who  are  initiated  into  these 
astrological  mysteries,  nothing  more  than  the  transit  of 
the  planet  Mercury  across  the  disk  of  the  sun.  The 
fabulous  bird,  the  phoenix,  is  an  emblem  of  Mercury,  as 
Osiris  is  of  the  Sun,  according  to  the  teaching  of  the 
books  of  Isis." 

"  I  perceive  the  whole  truth  now,"  I  answered. 

"  What  is  it,  my  lord  prince  ?"  asked  the  sisters. 

"  There  is  but  one  planet  Mercury,  as  there  was  but 
one  phoenix.  The  City  of  the  Sun,  or  the  Temple  of  the 
Sun,  on  which  the  phoenix  was  said  to  consume  himself, 
is  simply  the  Sun,  or  the  house  of  the  god  Sun,  in 
which  Mercury,  during  his  passage  across  the  disk,  may 
be  said  to  be  consumed  by  fire.  As  the  phoenix  con 
sumes  himself  once  every  six  hundred  and  fifty-one  years, 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  291 

at  the  vernal  equinox, — so  say  our  Sabsean  books,  kept  in 
the  Temple  of  Hercules  at  Tyre, — Mercury  once  every 
six  hundred  and  fifty-one  years  enters  the  flames  of  the 
sun  on  nearly  the  same  days  of  the  year!  As  the 
phoenix  flies  from  the  east  westward  to  the  City  of  the 
Sun,  so  the  course  of  Mercury  is  from  east  to  west 
athwart  the  sun.  "While  the  phoenix  in  its  passage  to 
the  City  of  the  Sun  is  attended  by  a  flight  of  dazzling 
birds,  so  Mercury  in  its  passage  across  the  disk  of  the 
sun  is  accompanied  by  bright,  scintillating  stars  in  the 
heavens  around.  As  the  phoenix  came  forth  anew  out 
of  the  flames  which  had  consumed  him  to  ashes,  so 
Mercury,  while  in  the  direct  line  of  the  sun,  is  lost  to 
the  vision  as  if  consumed,  but,  having  crossed  its  disk, 
reappears  and  flies  away  on  his  course  ngain,  resuming 
all  his  former  splendor !  Is  not  this  a  full  solution,  my 
lord  priest  ?"  I  asked. 

"You  have  wrell  solved  the  riddle,"  he  answered; 
"  and  I  must  compliment  you  on  your  knowledge  of 
astrology,  O  prince.  In  Egypt  we  are  acquainted  with 
this  science,  but  it  is  not  expected  of  strangers.  In  all 
the  years  in  which  the  phoenix,  according  to  the  '  Books 
of  the  Stars,'  is  said  to  have  destroyed  himself  with  fire 
in  the  City  of  On,  Mercury  has  likewise  performed  his 
transits  over  the  sun,  according  to  the  calculations  of 
our  hierogrammatists,  whose  duty  it  is  to  keep  records 
of  descriptions  of  the  world,  the  course  of  the  sun,  moon, 
and  planets,  and  the  condition  of  the  land  of  Egypt, 
and  the  Kile." 

When  I  had  expressed  my  thanks  to  the  noble  and 
intelligent  priest,  his  wife,  Kelisa,  who  entered  a  few 
moments  before,  said  to  him  playfully : 


292  THE  PILLAR  OF  FIRE,  OR 

"  "What  a  beautiful  mystery  you  have  destroyed  with 
your  science  and  learning,  my  lord !  I  have  from  a  child 
delighted  in  the  mysterious  story  of  the  phoenix." 

""We  have  mysteries  enough  left  in  our  mythology 
and  astrology,  my  dear  wife,"  he  answered.  "There 
is  scarcely  a  deity  of  the  land  who  is  not  in  his  origin  a 
greater  mystery  than  the  phoenix.  Around  them  all  are 
clouds  and  mists,  often  impenetrable  by  the  limited  rea 
son  of  man ;  and  in  many  lands,  as  it  was  anciently  in 
Egypt,  the  word  for  religion  is  '  mystery.' ': 

The  hierarch  was  now  summoned  by  the  sound  of  a 
sistrum  to  enter  the  temple,  with  which  his  palace  com 
municated — it  being  the  hour  of  evening  prayer  and 
oblation.  The  young  ladies  prepared  to  ride  in  a  beau 
tiful  chariot  brought  to  the  palace  by  their  brother,  a 
fine  specimen  of  the  young  Egyptian  noble ;  while  the 
lady  of  the  house  left  me,  to  return  and  oversee  her 
numerous  servants  in  their  occupation  of  making  con 
fections  and  pastry,  and  preparing  fruits  for  a  fes 
tivity  that  is  to  take  place  in  the  evening,  I  believe,  in 
my  honor ;  for,  were  I  a  son,  I  could  not  be  more  cor 
dially  regarded  than  beneath  the  hospitable  roof  of  the 
hierarch  of  Memphis. 

As  I  was  proceeding  along  the  corridor  which  leads 
past  the  "  Hall  of  Books,"  I  saw  through  the  open  door 
the  stately  and  handsome  Hebrew  wmaan  J^iriam.X  She 
was  engaged  in  coloring,  wTith  cakes  of  the  richest  tints 
before  her,  a  heading  to  a  scroll  of  papyrus.  Her  noble 
profile  was  turned  to  my  view.  I  started  with  surprise 
and  a  half  exclamation,  for  I  beheld  in  its  grand  and 
faultless  outline  the  features  of  Remeses !  How  won 
derful  it  is  that  he  so  strikingly  resembles  two,  nay 


ISKAEL  IN  BONDAGE.  293 

three,  of  this  foreign  race ! — not  only  this  woman, 
though  much  older  than  Remeses,  and  the  venerable 
nnder-gardener  Amram,  "but  also  a  third  Hebrew  whom 
I  have  met  under  singular  circumstances.  I  will  defer, 
however,  my  dear  mother,  to  another  letter  the  account 
of  it,  as  well  as  of  my  interview  with  Miriam ;  for,  hearing 
my  exclamation,  she  looked  up  and  smiled  so  courteously 
that  I  asked  permission  to  enter  and  examine  the  work 
•she  was  so  skilfully  executing  with  her  pencil. 

The  hierarch,  the  lady  ]STelisa,  and  their  daughters 
Luxora  and  Osiria,  desire  to  unite  with  me  in  my  re 
gards  to  you. 

Your  affectionate  son, 

SESOSTKIS. 


294  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 


LETTEE    XVIII. 

CITY  or  MEMPHIS,  PALACE  OF  THE  HIFJSAKCH. 

MY  DEAR  MOTHER  I 

I  HAVE  received  from  the  Prince  Remeses  a  let 
ter  informing  me  of  the  arrival  of  each  division  of  his 
army,  chariots,  horse,  and  footmen,  with  the  fleets  under 
the  viceroy  Mceris,  at  the  city  of  the  Thebai'd.  They  en 
tered  it,  however,  as  conquerors,  for  the  Ethiopian  king 
had  already  taken  possession  of  it  with  his  advanced 
guard. 

I  will  quote  to  you  from  the  letter  of  the  prince : 
"  I  trust,  my  dear  Sesostris,"  he  writes,  "  that  yon 
are  passing  your  time  both  with  pleasure  and  profit,  in 
visiting  places  of  interest  in  the  valley  of  the  Lower 
Nile,  and  in  studying  the  manners  and  "usages  of  the 
people.  You  will  find  the  pyramids  an  exhaustless 
source  of  attraction.  From  the  priests,  who  are  the 
most  intelligent  and  learned  class  in  Egypt,  you  will 
obtain  all  the  information  respecting  those  mysterious 
monuments  of  the  past,  which  is  known,  besides  many 
legends. 

"  The  idea  of  their  antediluvian  origin  is  by  no  means 
an  unlikely  one.  As  we  travel  down  the  past,  at  every 
epoch  we  find  the  pyramids  uplifting  their  lofty  heads 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  295 

into  the  skies  !  Still  we  move  down  the  path  of  ages,  and 
see  the  throne  of  the  first  mortal  king  overshadowed  by 
their  hoary  tops  !  Further  back,  against  their  bases,  beat 
the  receding  waves  of  the  deluge ;  for  between  the  king 
of  the  first  dynasty  and  the  flood,  there  seems  to  be  no 
interval  in  which  they  could  have  been  npreared,  even 
if  there  were  time  for  a  nation  to  rise  and  advance  in 
power,  civilization,  art,  and  wealth,  adequate  to  the  pro 
duct  of  such  gigantic  geometric  ^  works.  Either  our 
chronology  is  at  fault,  or  the  pyramids  must  have  been 
constructed  by  the  antediluvian  demigods,  and  have 
outstood  the  strength  of  the  surging  seas  which  rolled 
over  the  earth.  You  will,  however,  no  doubt,  hear  all 
that  is  to  be  said,  and  judge  for  yourself. 

"  My  army  is  in  fine  order.  You  already  have  learned, 
by  my  courier  to  the  queen,  how  the  dark-visaged,  bar 
baric  King  Occhoris  entered  Thebes  the  day  of  our 
arrival  in  the  suburbs.  Upon  receiving  intelligence 
that  the  van  of  my  forces,  which  was  cavalry,  had  just 
reached  the  sepulchres  of  the  Pharaohs  below  the  city,  I 
pushed  forward,  joined  them,  and,  at  their  head,  enteicd 
the  city  ;  while  the  main  body  of  the  troops  of  the 
Ethiopian  king  wras  moving  on  from  Edfu.  But  Oc 
choris  had  already  been  driven  from  his  position  in  the 
palace  of  the  Pharaohs,  by  an  infuriated  and  insulted 
populace.  The  barbarian  monarch,  after  entering  the 
city  without  opposition,  at  the  head  of  two  hundred 
chariots,  six  hundred  horse,  and  his  gigantic  body-guard 
of  Bellardines,  consisting  of  a  thousand  men  in  iron 
helmets,  round  shields,  and  heavy  short-swords,  in  order 
to  show  his  contempt  of  our  national  religion,  here  in 
what  has  been  called  both  its  cradle  and  its  throne. 


296  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

commanded  to  be  led  into  the  temple  of  the  sacred 
Bull,  a  wild  African  buffalo, — a  bull  of  a  species  as 
ferocious  as  the  lion, — and  ordered  him  to  be  let  loose 
against  the  god.  The  fierce  animal  charged  upon  him 
as  he  stood  in  the  holy  adytum  with  his  curators,  and, 
overthrowing  him,  gored  him  to  death  in  a  few  moments. 
Thereupon  the  priests  raised  the  wild  cry  of  vengeance 
for  sacrilege.  It  was  caught  up  by  the  people,  and  borne 
from  tongue  to  tongue  through  the  city  in  a  few  mo 
ments  of  time.  Fearless,  indifferent  to  the  arms  of  the 
soldiers,  the  three  hundred  and  seventy  priests  of  the 
temple,  armed  only  with  their  sacrificial  knives,  rushed 
upon  the  barbarian  and  his  guard.  The  Ethiopians 
rallied  about  their  monarch,  and  for  ten  priests  they 
slew,  ten-score  filled  their  places.  The  floor  of  the 
temple  became  a  battle-field.  Occhoris,  and  the  sixty 
men  who  entered  the  temple  with  him,  formed  them 
selves  into  a  solid  phalanx,  facing  their  furious  assailants, 
who  seemed  to  think  they  could  not  die.  Gaining  at 
length  the  door,  the  king  received  reinforcements.  But 
by  this  time  the  whole  city  was  in  an  uproar  and  under 
arms,  and  the  people,  who  feared  Occhoris  in  the 
morning,  and  refused  to  oppose  him,  now  knew  no  fear. 
The  issue  of  this  fearful  combat  was,  that  the  sacrilegious 
king  was  forced  to  retire  with  the  loss  of  two  thirds  of 
his  body-guard,  and  nearly  every  chariot  and  rider ;  for 
the  avenging  people  with  knives  crept  beneath  the 
horses  and  stabbed  them  to  death ;  while  others,  leaping 
upon  horsemen  and  chariots,  dragged  them  to  the  ground, 
and  put  them  to  death.  "Not  less  than  four  thousand  of 
the  citizens  of  Thebes  perished  in  the  act  of  pious  ven 
geance.  Before  I  entered  the  city  I  heard  the  crie*,  tj»e 


ISRAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  297 

shouts,  the  ringing  of  weapons,  and  the  whole  tumult 
of  war ;  and,  making  my  way  over  heaps  of  slain  that 
lay  in  the  great  ;  avenue  of  the  gods,'  I  pursued  the 
retiring  monarch  beyond  the  gates.  He  regained  the 
head  of  his  army,  and  came  to  a  halt  near  the  ancient 
temple  of  Amun  on  the  Nile.  My  whole  army  are 
now  in  advance  of  Thebes,  in  order  of  battle,  awaiting  a 
threatened  attack  from  the  Ethiopian  king.  My  head 
quarters  are  at  the  palace  of  Amunophis  I.,  from  which 
he  departed  nearly  a  century  ago  to  drive  the  foreign 
kings  from  Memphis.  I  felt  a  deep  interest  in  being  in 
the  house  of  my  great  ancestor.  I  have  also  visited  the 
palace  of  my  father,  the  Prince  of  Thebes,  who  was 
slain,  not  long  before  my  birth,  in  battle  with  the  Ethi 
opians.  I  have  paid  a  visit  to  his  tomb  ;  and  as  I  stood 
gazing  upon  the  reposing  dead  in  the  royal  mausoleum 
hewn  from  the  solid  mountain,  I  wondered  if  his  soul 
were  cognizant  that  a  son,  whom  he  had  never  seen  to 
bless  with  a  father's  benediction,  was  bending  sorrow 
fully  over  the  stone  sarcophagus  that  held  his  remains. 

"  To-morrow  we  join  battle  with  the  barbaric  king. 
From  the  tower  of  the  pylon  which  looks  towards  the 
south,  I  see  his  vast  army,  with  its  battalion  of  ele 
phants,  its  host  of  brazen  chariots,  its  horsemen  and 
footmen  as  numerous  as  the  leaves.  But  I  feel  confi 
dent  of  victory.  Prince  Moeris  has  moved  his  galleys 
on  the  opposite  side,  in  order  to  ascend  secretly  by  night 
and  gain  the  rear  of  the  enemy,  who  are  without  boats. 
My  chariots,  some  five  hundred  in  number,  have  been 
crossed  over  in  safety  to  this  side,  to  co-operate  with  the 
Prince  of  Thebes.  They  are  now  drawn  up  in  the  wide, 
superb  serpentine  avenue,  the  '  sacred  way'  of  Thebes, 

13* 


298  THE  PILLAR  OF  FIRE,  OR 

lined  with  sphinxes  and  statues  which  adorn  this  vast 
circle  of  temples  to  the  gods. 

"  You  shall  hear  from  me  after  the  battle.  If  we  defeat 
and  pursue  Occlioris,  we  shall  return  to  Memphis  soon. 
If  we  are  defeated  and  driven  back  upon  Thebes — which 
the  great  God  of  battles  forbid ! — I  know  not  how  long 
the  campaign  will  continue.  I  hope  my  mother,  the 
queen,  is  well.  Convey  to  her  my  most  respectful  and 
tender  remembrances,  and  receive  from  me,  beloved 
prince,  the  assurances  of  my  personal  regard  and  friend 
ship.  .  EEMESES." 

In  the  mean  while,  my  dear  mother,  until  I  have  fur 
ther  news  from  Prince  Kemeses,  I  will  give  you  an  ac 
count  of  the  conversation  I  held  with  the  papyrus-copier 
and  decorator,  Miriam,  the  Hebrewess. 

"  You  are  wonderfully  skilled  in  the  art,"  I  said  to  her, 
as  I  surveyed  the  piece  before  her,  which  she  said  was 
the  commencement  of  a  copy  of  a  funeral  ritual  for  the 
priests  of  Athor. 

"  I  have  been  many  years  engaged  in  transcribing," 
she  answered  with  modest  dignity,  without  raising  her 
eyes  to  my  face. 

"  I  have  not  seen  you  before  in  the  palace,  though  I 
have  often  been  in  this  hall,"  I  said,  feeling  awakened 
in  me  an  interest  to  learn  more  of  the  extraordinary 
people  who  toil  for  the  crown  of  Egypt,  and  whose  an 
cestors  have  been  princes. 

"  I  have  been  at  Raamses  for  a  few  days.  My  mother 
was  ill,  and  I  hastened  to  her." 

"  I  hope  your  return  is  a  proof  of  her  recovery,"  I 
said  kindly. 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  299 

She  raised  her  splendid  eyss  to  my  face,  with  a  look 
in  them  of  surprise.  If  I  interpreted  aright  their  mean 
ing,  it  was,  "  Can  this  prince  take  any  interest  in  the 
welfare  of  a  Hebrew  woman?"  Seeing  that  my  own 
eyes  encountered  hers  with  a  look  of  friendly  concern, 
she  spoke,  and  said  : 

"She  is  better." 

Her  voice  had  a  mellow  and  rich  cadence  in  it,  wholly 
different  from  the  low,  silvery  tones  with  which  the 
Egyptian  ladies  speak. 

"I  rejoice- with  you,"  I  said. 

She  slowly  shook  her  superb  head,  about  which  the 
jet-black  hair  was  bound  in  a  profusion  of  braids.  There 
were  tones  in  her  voice,  too,  that  again  recalled  Prince 
Kemeses.  Hence  the  secret  of  the  interest  that  I  took 
in  conversing  with  her. 

"  Why  do  you  shake  your  head  ?"  I  asked. 

"  Why  should  the  Hebrew  wish  to  prolong  life.?" 

She  said  this  in  a  tone  of  deep  emotion,  but  continued 
her  occupation,  which  was  now  copying  a  leaf  of  brill 
iantly  colored  hieroglyphic  inscriptions  into  the  sort  of 
running-hand  the  Egyptians  make  use  of  in  ordinary  in 
tercourse.  There  are  three  modes  of  tracing  the  char 
acters  of  this  system  of  writing  ;  and  scribes  adopt  one, 
which,  while  it  takes  the  hieroglyph  for  its  copy,  repre 
sents  it  by  a  few  strokes  that  often  bear,  to  the  unini 
tiated  eye,  no  resemblance  to  the  model.  This  mode 
the  Hebrewess  was  making  use  of,  writing  it  with  ease 
and  elegance. 

"  Life  to  you,  in  this  palace,  under  such  a  gentle  mis 
tress  as  Osiria,  cannot  be  bitter." 

"  I  have  no  want.     I  am  treated  here  as  if  I  were  not 


300  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

of  the  race  of  the  Hebrews.  But,  my  lord,"  she  said, 
elevating  slightly  her  noble-toned  voice,  though  not 
raising  her  eyes,  "  I  am  not  so  selfish,  believe  me,  as  to 
have  no  thought  beyond  my  own  personal  comfort. 
How  can  I  be  happy,  even  amid  all  the  kindness  I  ex 
perience  in  this  virtuous  family,  when  my  heart  is  op 
pressed  with  the  bondage  of  my  people  ?  Thou  art  but 
a  stranger  in  Egypt,  O  prince, — for  I  have  heard  of  thee, 
and  who  thou  art, — and  yet  thou  hast  seen  and  felt  for 
my  people !" 

"  I  have,  indeed,  seen  their  misery  and  toil ;  but  how 
didst  thou  know  it  ?" 

"  From  the  venerable  Ben  Isaac,  whose  son  Israel  thou 
didst  pity  and  relieve  at  the  fountain  of  the  shepherds." 
She  said  this  gratefully  and  with  feeling. 

"  Thou  didst  hear  of  this  ?" 

"  He  was  of  my  kinsfolk.  They  told  me  of  your  kind 
ness  with  tears  and  blessings ;  for  it  is  so  unusual  with 
our  people  to  hear  in  Egypt  the  voice  of  pity,  or  behold 
a  look  of  sympathy  !" 

"  I  hope  the  lad  recovered,"  I  said,  feeling  that  her 
knowledge  of  that  little  incident  had  removed  from  be 
tween  us  the  barrier  which  separates  entire  strangers. 
Besides,  dear  mother,  it  is  impossible  for  me,  a  Syrian, 
to  look  upon  the  Hebrew  people,  who  are  also  Syrians 
by  descent  from  Abram,  the  Syrian  prince,  with  Egyp 
tian  eyes  and  prejudices.  They  regard  them  as  slaves, 
and  look  upon  them  from  the  position  of  the  master,  1 
never  have  known  them  as  slaves,  I  am  not  their  mas 
ter,  and  I  regard  them,  therefore,  with  interest  and  sym 
pathy,  as  an  unhappy  Syrian  people,  who  deserve  a 
better  fate,  which  I  trust  their  gods  have  in  store  for 


ISEAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  301 

them.  Therefore,  while  an  Egyptian  would  feel  it  a 
degradation,  or  at  least  iiimrite  condescension,  to  con 
verse  familiarly  with  a  Hebrew  of  either  sex,  I  have  no 
such  inborn  and  inbred  ideas.  Miriam  was  in  my  eyes 
only  a  beautiful  and  dignified  Syrian  woman,  in  bond 
age.  ]STo  doubt,  if  the  proud  and  queenly  Luxora  had 
passed  by,  and  discovered  me  in  conversation  with  her, 
she  would  have  marvelled  at  my  taste ;  or  have  been 
displeased  at  an  impropriety  so  unworthy  of  my  posi 
tion  ;  for  though,  wheresoever  I  have  seen  Hebrews  do 
mesticated  in  families,  I  have  observed  the  affability  and 
kindness  with  which  their  faithful  services  are  usually 
rewarded  by  those  they  serve,  yet  there  cannot  be  a 
wider  gulf  between  the  realms  of  Osiris  and  Typhon, 
than  between  the  Egyptian  of  rank  and  the  Hebrew. 
The  few  thousand  of  the  more  refined  and  attractive  of 
both  sexes,  who  are  to  be  found  in  palaces  and  the 
houses  of  nobles,  are  too  limited  in  number  to  qualify 
the  feeling  of  contempt  with  which  the  miserable  mil 
lions  of  their  brethren,  who  toil  in  the  brick-fields  south 
of  On,  between  the  Nile  and  the  desert,  and  in  other 
parts  of  Egypt,  are  universally  regarded.  Even  the 
lowest  Egyptian  is  deemed  by  himself  above  the  best 
of  the  Ben  Israels.  What  marvel,  therefore, "  that  the 
handsome,  dark-eyed  youths  who  serve  as  pages,  and 
the  beautiful  brunettes  who  wait  upon  mistresses,  have 
a  sad  and  timid  air,  and  wear  a  gentle,  deprecating 
look,  as  if  they  were  fully  conscious  of  their  degra 
dation  ! 

"  He  is  well,"  Miriam  answered,  "  and  desires  me  to 
ask  you  (I  pray  you  pardon  the  presumption !)  if  he 
may  serve  you  ?" 


302  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

"  I  learn  that  a  stranger  cannot  take  a  Hebrew  into 
service,"  I  answered. 

"  True.  We  are  the  servants  of  the  Egyptians,"  she 
said,  sadly.  "But  the  great  Prince  Remeses,  son  of 
Pharaoh's  daughter,  will  suffer  it  if  you  ask  him.  Will 
you  do  this  for  the  lad?  Otherwise  he  will  perish  in 
the  field,  for  his  spirit  and  strength  are  not  equal  to  his 
tasks." 

"  The  prince  is  absent,  but  I  will  ask  the  queen,"  I 
answered,  happy  to  do  so  great  a  favor  to  the  youthful 
Hebrew,  in  whom  I  felt  a  deep  interest,  inasmuch  as  it 
is  our  nature  to  feel  kindly  towards  those  for  whom  we 
have  done  offices  of  kindness. 

"  I  thank  you,  and  his  father  and  he  will  bless  you, 
O  Prince  of  Tyre,"  she  said,  taking  my  hand  and  car 
rying  it  to  her  forehead,  and  then  respectfully  kissing  it ; 
and  as  she  did  so,  I  saw  a  tear  fall  upon  my  signet 
finger. 

"  I  feel  much  for  your  people,"  I  said. 

She  continued  her  task  in  silence ;  but  tears  began  so 
rapidly  to  rain  down  upon  the  papyrus,  over  which  her 
head  was  bent,  that  she  was  compelled  to  turn  her  face 
away,  lest  she  should  spoil  her  work.  After  a  few  mo 
ments  she  raised  her  face,  and  said^  with  shining  eyes — 

"Pardon  me,  my  lord  prince,  but  your  few  kind 
words,  to  which  my  ears  are  all  unused,  have  broken 
up  the  sealed  fountains  of  my  heart.  It  is  seldom  that 
we  children  of  Jacob  hear  the  accents  of  sympathy,  or 
find  any  one  to  manifest  concern  for  us,  when  not  per 
sonally  interested  in  doing  so." 

At  this  moment,  the  sound  of  the  sistrum  before  the 
Bacred  altar  of  the  temple,  fell  upon  my  ears  ;  and,  turn- 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  303 

ing  round  to  the  east,  I  laid  my  hands  across  my  breast, 
and  bowed  my  head  low  in  worship,  it  being  the  signal 
that  the  hierarch  was  offering  incense  and  libations. 

To  my  surprise,  the  Hebrew  woman  pursued  her  work, 
and  remained  with  her  head,  as  I  thought,  nrore  proudly 
elevated  than  before. 

"  Do  you  not  worship  ?"  I  asked,  with  surprise. 

**  Yes,  the  One  God,"  she  answered,  with  dignity. 

I  started  with  surprise,  that  a  bondwoman  should  de 
clare,  so  openly  and  familiarly,  the  mystery  which  even. 
Remeses  scarcely  dared  to  receive,  and  which  I  had  ac 
cepted  with  hesitation  and  awe. 

"  How  knowest  thou  there  is  One  God  ?"  I  said,  re 
garding  her  with  deepening  interest. 

("  From  our  fathers." 

"  Do  all  your  people  worship  the  One  Unity  ?" 

"  Not  all,"  she  answered,  a  shadow  passing  across  her 
queenly  brow.  "  The  masses  of  our  enslaved  nation  know 
only  the  gods  of  Egypt.  They  adore  Apis  with  servil 
ity.  They  are  the  first  to  hail  the  new-found  calf-god, 
if,  by  chance,  he  be  found  in  the  nome  where  they  toil. 
They  are  ignorant  of  the  true  God,  and  degraded  by  their 
long  servitude  (for  we  are  all  born  in  bondage--^/) ; 
they  worship  the  gods  of  their  masters;  and  pots  of 
flesh  which  are  sent  from  the  sacrifices  by  the  prosely 
ting  priests^  as  bribes  to  make  our  chief  men  bow  down 
to  Osiris  and  Apis,  are  temptations  enough  to  cause 
these  elders  daily  to  deny  the  God  of  their  father  Abra 
ham.  Jacob  and  Joseph  are  become  Egyptians,  and 
the  knowledge  of  the  undivided  God  is  preserved  only 
by  a  few,  who  have  kept  sacred  the  traditions  of  our 
fathers." 


304  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE   OR, 

This  was  said  with  deep  feeling,  and  with  an  expres 
sion  of  anger  mingled  with  sorrow. 

"  What  do  yon  worship  ?"  I  asked. 
("The  God  of  Abraham." 

"  Abram  was  a  Syrian  prince,"  I  said.  "  He  ir  ust 
have  worshipped  fire,  and  the  sun." 

"  In  his  youth  he  did.     But  the  great  Lord  of  heaven 
revealed  Himself  to  him  as  One  God,  and  thenceforth  he 
knew  and  worshipped   only  the  Lord  of  heaven   and 
.earth." 

"  How  knowest  thou  mysteries  which  are  approached 
with  the  greatest  awe  by  the  most  sacred  priests  ?" 

"Abraham,  our  father,  gave  to  Isaac,  his  son,  the 
knowledge  of  One  God,  God  of  gods ! — above,  beyond, 
higher,  and  over  the  fabulous  Osiris,  Apis,  Thoth,  Horns, 
and  all  other  so-called  deities.  Isaac  left  the  knowledge 
with  his  son  Jacob.  From  Jacob  it  descended  to  his 
twelve  sons,  princes  by  birth ;  and  we  are  their  progeny ; 
and  though  in  bondage,  and  tempted  to  bow  down  our 
selves  to  the  gods  of  Egypt,  yet  there  remain  a  few  in 
Israel  who  have  never  bowed  the  knee  to  the  black 
statue  of  Apis,  or  crossed  the  breast  before  the  golden 
image  of  Osiris." 

"  What  is  the  name  of  the  One  God  you,  and  minds 
like  yours,  worship  ?"  I  asked. 

"  He  is  called  the  One  Lord ;  not  only  Lord  of  the 
sun,  but  Lord  of  the  lords  of  the  sun.  He  is  One  in 
His  being,  One  in  power,  and  yields  not  His  glory  and 
dominion  to  others.  Such  is  the  tradition  of  our  faith." 

"How  hast  thou  resisted  the  worship  of  Egypt?"  I 
asked.  "  Hast  thou  not  from  a  child  been  an  inmate  of 
this  palace  ?" 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  305 

u  Yes,  my  lord  prince.  But  my  mother  taught  me 
early  the  truths  of  the  faith  of  Abraham,  and  I  have 
held  firmly  to  the  worship  of  my  fathers,  amid  tempta 
tions,  trials,  and  menaces.  But  all  the  gods  of  Egypt 
have  not  turned  me  aside  from  the  One  God ;  and  my 
heart  tells  me  that  in  Him,  and  Him  alone,  I  live,  and 
move,  and  have  my  being !" 

I  regarded  this  noble -looking  bondwoman  with  sur 
prise  and  profound  respect.  Here,  from  the  lips  of  a 
female,  a  slave,  had  I  heard  the  mystery  of  God  made 
known,  by  one  who  worshipped  boldly  the  Divine 
Unity,  which  the  wisdom  of  Remeses  shrunk  from  cer 
tainly  acknowledging;  but  felt  after  only  with  hope 
and  desire. 

"  Prince,"  she  said,  looking  np  into  my  face,  and 
speaking  with  feeling,  "  dost  thou  believe  in  these  gods 
of  Egypt?" 

I  confess,  dear  mother,  I  was  startled  by  the  question. 
But  I  replied,  smiling — 

"  I  worship  the  gods  of  my  own  land,  Miriam." 

"  Are  they  idols  ?" 

"  What  is  an  idol  ?" 

"  An  image  or  figure  in  stone,  or  wood,  or  metal,  or     i 
even  painted  with  colors,  to  which  divine  homage  is 
paid, — visible  representations  of  the  invisible." 

"  In  Phoenicia  we  worship  the  sun,  and  also  honor 
certain  gods." 

"  Then  thou  art  not  above  the  Egyptians.  I  saw  thee 
bend  in  attitude  of  prayer  at  the  sound  of  the  sistrum. 
Dost  thou  believe  that  the  sacrecl  bull  is  God, — who 
made  thee,  and  me,  and  nature,  and  the  sun,  and  stars, 
and  upholds  the  universe  ?  Dost  thou  believe  Apis  or 


306  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

Mnevis  at  On,  or  Amun  at  Thebes,  either  or  all  of  them, 
GOD?" 

"Thou  art  a  wonderful  woman !"  I  exclaimed.  "Art 
thou  not  a  priestess  of  the  Hebrew  people  ?" 

"  "Not  a  priestess.  I  simply  believe  in  the  unity  of 
God,  which  you  ought  to  believe  in ;  for  thou  art  open 
and  ingenuous,  and  not  afraid  of  truth.  A  priestess  I 
am  not,  yet  in  my  family  and  tribe  is  preserved  sacredly 
the  knowledge  of  the  God  who  spake  from  heaven  to 
our  ancestor,  the  Syrian.  Canst  thou  believe,  O  prince, 
that  a  bull  is  God?"  she  asked  again,  almost  authorita 
tively. 

"  JS"o,  I  do  not,"  I  answered,  without  disguise. 

"  Dost  thou  believe  that  all  minor  deities  will  ulti 
mately  be  lost  in  one  God  ?" 

"  I  do,  most  certainly." 

"  Then  worship  Him !  Thou  art  a  prince.  I  hear 
thou  wilt  become  a  king.  What  would  be  your  opinion 
of  your  subjects,  and  ambassadors  of  other  lands,  also, 
if,  instead  of  presenting  petitions  to  you,  they  should 
oifer  them  to  your  grand-chamberlain,  your  royal  scribe, 
your  chief  butler,  or  chief  baker, — mistaking  them  ig- 
norantly  for  you  ?" 

I  made  no  reply,  dear  mother.  The  argument  <vas 
irresistible.  It  will  be  long,  I  feel,  before  I  recognize 
in  Apis,  or  in  any  statue  of  stone,  or  any  figure  of  a 
god,  the  One  God,  whose  existence  Remeses  first  hinted 
at  to  me,  and  which  the  Hebrew  has  made  me  believe 
in  ;  for  my  own  reason  responds  to  the  mighty  truth ! 
Do  not  fear,  my  dear  mother,  that  I  shall  return  to  Tyre 
an  iconoclast;  for  I  cannot  set  up  a  faith  in  the  One  God 
in  my  realm,  until  I  have  His  existence  established  by 


ISRAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  307 

infallible  proofs.  In  my  own  heart  I  may  believe  in  Him 
and  adore  Him,  whom  my  reason  sees  through  and  be 
yond  all  material  images  of  Himself;  but,  with  Remeses, 
I  must  secure  a  foundation  for  this  new  faith,  before  I 
overturn  the  ancient  fabric  of  our  mythology  of  many 
gods. 

She  resumed  her  work.  It  was  coloring  the  wings 
of  an  image  of  the  sun,  which,  encircled  by  an  asp, 
his  head  projected,  and  with  extended  wings,  adorned 
the  beginning  of  one  of  the  leaves.  The  sun  was  over 
laid  with  gold  ;  the  asps  were  painted  green,  and  brown, 
and  gold,  while  the  feathers  of  the  wide  wings  were 
blue,  orange,  purple,  silver,  and  gilt.  It  was  an  exqui 
sitely  beautiful  picture. 

"  That  is  a  god,"  I  said,  after  watching  for  a  time  her 
skilful  pencil ;  "  and  yet  you  design  and  color  it." 

"The  potter  is  not  responsible  for  the  use  that  his 
vases  are  put  to.  The  slave  must  do  her  mistress's  work. 
I  fulfil  my  task  and  duty  by  obedience  to  the  lords  who 
are  over  me.  Yet  this  is  not  a  god.  It  is  the  emblem 
of  Egypt.  The  eternal  sunshine  is  symboled  in  this 
golden  disk.  The  entwining  asp  is  the  winding  Nile, 
and  the  two  wings  represent  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt, 
extending  along  the  river.  It  is  an  emblem,  not  a  god. 
In  Egypt,  no  temple  is  erected  to  it.  It  is  used  only  in 
sculpture  and  over  pylons  of  temples.  Yet,"  she  added, 
"  were  it  a  god,  I  could  not  refuse  to  depict  it.  Com 
manded  to  do,  I  obey.  The  condition  of  my  people  is 
one  of  submission  :  if  a  king  rules  well,  he  is  approved ; 
•if  a  slave  obeys  well,  he  also  is  approved." 

At  this  point  of  our  interesting  conversation,  I  saw 
the  noble-looking,  gray-bearded  Prince  of  Uz  pass  along 


308  THE  PILLAR  OF  FIRE,  OR 

the  corridor,  preceded  by  the  page  of  the  reception- 
room.  Seeing  me,  he  stopped  and  said  with  "benignity 
and  courtesy : 

"  Prince  of  Tyre,  it  is  a  pleasure  for  me  to  meet  with 
you  here !  I  am  about  to  leave  Egypt  for  Damascus, 
and  learn  from  her  majesty,  the  good  queen,  that  you 
have  a  galley  which  goes  in  a  few  days  from  Pelusium 
to  Tyre.  I  have  come  hither,  knowing  you  to  be  a 
guest  of  my  friend  the  high-priest,  to  ask  permission  to 
sail  in  her.  I  have  but  a  small  retinue,  as  my  caravan 
has  already  gone  through  Arabia  Deserta,  on  its  way  to 
Upper  Syria.  I  take  with  me  but  my  secretary,  scribe, 
cup-bearer,  armor-bearer,  courier,  and  ten  servants. 

1  assured  the  venerable  prince  that  it  would  give  me 
the  greatest  pleasure  to  surrender  to  him  the  cabin  and 
state-chamber  of  your  galley,  my  dear  mother.  And 
he  will  be  the  bearer  of  a  letter  from  me  presenting 
him  to  you.  I  have  already  spoken  of  him  in  my  ac 
count  of  my  first  banquet  with  the  queen.  He  is  a 
prince,  wise,  good,  virtuous,  and  greatly  honored,  not 
only  for  his  wisdom,  but  for  the  patience,  like  a  god's, 
with  which  he  has  endured  the  most  wonderful  suffer 
ings.  At  one  time  he  lost  sons,  daughters,  servants, 
flocks,  herds,  houses,  treasures,  and  health :  yet  he 
neither  cursed  the  gods  nor  sought  escape  in  death.  In 
reward  for  his  patience  and  endurance,  the  heavenly 
powers  restored  to  him  all  things ;  and  his  name  is  now 
but  another  term  for  sacred  submission  to  the  divine 
decrees. 

Having  courteously  thanked  me  for  granting  his  wish, 
he  looked  closely  at  the  Hebrew  woman,  and  then  said 
to  her — 


ISRAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  309 

"Is  it  true  that  thy  people  worship  the  One  God?" 

"  It  is  true,  O  prince  !"  she  answered  modestly. 

"  This  is  the  true  wisdom  of  life,  to  know  the  Almighty, 
and  be  admitted  into  the  secrets  of  the  Holy  One  !  Be 
hold  !  happy  is  the  man  who  attaineth  to  this  knowl 
edge.  The  world  gropes  in  darkness  in  the  daytime, 
and  stumbles  in  the  noon-day  as  in  the  night,  not  seeing 
the  pathway  to  God.  Blessed  art  thou,  O  daughter  of 
the  wise  Abram,  the  princely  Isaac,  the  good  Jacob — the 
three  great  Syrian  princes  of  the  East — in  that  thou 
knowest,  thou  and  thy  people,  the  traditions  of  thy 
fathers  !  Can  a  man  by  searching  find  out  God  ?  Can 
the  priests  by  their  wisdom  find  out  the  Almighty  to 
perfection?  Their  light  is  darkness!  but  the  sons  of 
Israel  Ben  Abram  have  the  knowledge  of  the  Most 
High,  and  are  wiser  than  Egypt !" 

Miriam  regarded  the  majestic  old  man  with  eyes  ex 
pressive  of  wonder  and  joy.  They  seemed  to  ask : 
"  Who  art  thou  ?"  He  understood  their  interrogating 
expression,  and  said : 

"  Daughter  of  Abram,  offspring  of  wise  kings,  who 
walked  with  the  One  God,  who  found  Him  and  came 
even  unto  His  seat,  when  darkness  covered  the  hearts 
of  all  men,  I  also  worship  GOD  !  I  am  of  the  family 
of  the  King  Melchisedec,  who  knew  Abram  thy  father  ! 
They  both  had  knowledge  of  the  mystery  of  the  Divine 
Unity !  They  were  friends,  and  worshipped  God,  the 
Almighty,  when  the  understanding  of  men  knew  Him 
not  and  denied  the  God  that  is  above,  and  the  spirit  of 
God  who  made  them,  and  the  breath  of  the  Almighty 
that  gave  them  life.  Our  God  speaketh  everywhere, 
yet  man  perceiveth  it  not,  neither  doth  he  know  His 


310  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

voice  !  Touching  the  Almighty — who  can  find  him  out  ? 
The  world  lacketh  wisdom,  and  is  devoid  of  understand 
ing,  to  bow  down  to  the  work  of  their  own  hands,  and 
see  not  Him  who  laid  the  foundations  of  the  earth,  who 
hath  stretched  His  line  upon  the  heavens,  and  to  whom 
all  the  morning  stars  sang  together  at  their  creation,  and 
all  the  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy  !" 

The  venerable  Syrian  uttered  these  words  with  an  air 
of  inspiration.  His  eyes  were  fixed  inquiringly  upon 
my  face,  as  if  he  directed  his  speech  to  me  alone. 

"  I  would  know  the  God  that  you  and  the  Hebrews 
know  and  worship,"  I  said,  with  emotion.  "  I  no  longer 
recognize  Deity  in  stone  and  metal,  nor  God  in  Osiris 
and  Apis,  nor  the  Creator  of  all  in  the  sun — who  is  but 
a  servant  to  light  the  world." 

When  I  had  thus  spoken,  the  eyes  of  the  Hebrew 
woman  beamed  with  pleasure,  and  the  Prince  of  Uz, 
whose  name  is  Ra-Iub,  or  Job,  took  my  hand  in  his  and 
said,  with  a  smile  of  benignity — 

"  Thou  art  not  far  from  the  house  of  Truth,  O  Prince 
of  Tyre  !  May  the  Almighty  instruct  thee,  and  He  who 
ordained  the  ordinances  of  heaven  enlighten  thee !  He 
alone  is  the  Almighty !  Can  Apis,  or  lo,  or  Adonis,  the 
gods  in  whom  you  believe,  give  rain  and  dew,  the  ice 
and  the  hoary  frost  ?  Can  they  bind  up  the  wintry  seas 
of  Colchis,  so  that  men  may  walk  upon  the  frozen  face 
of  the  deep,  as  .upon  marble  ?  Can  Apis  or  Bel-Phegor 
bind  the  sweet  influences  of  Pleiades,  or  loose  the  bands 
of  Orion?  Can  they  bring  forth  Mazzaroth  in  his 
season,  guide  Arcturus  with  his  sons,  and  hang  Aldc- 
baran  and  Sirius  in  the  firmament?  Can  they  send 
forth  the  lightning,  and  give  to  thunder  its  voice  ?  My 


ISKAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  311 

son,  there  is  a  spirit  in  man,  and  the  inspiration  of  tfyo 
Almighty  giveth  understanding  to  them  that  seek  it. 
Behold,  God  is  great,  and  we  know  Him  not,  neither 
can  the  number  of  His  years  be  searched  out;  yet  who 
soever  prayeth  unto  Him,  He  will  be  favorable  unto, 
and  will  deliver  his  soul,  and  his  life  shall  see  the  light 
of  the  living !  Deny  not,  my  son,  the  God  that  is  above  !" 

"  But  where,  O  wise  man  of  God,  is  the  Almighty  to 
be  found,  and  whither  shall  my  understanding  go  out  to 
find  the  place  of  His  throne  ?"  I  asked,  feeling  like  a 
child  at  his  feet,  under  the  power  of  his  words.  "  I  am 
weary  of  idols,"  I  continued,  catching  the  spirit  of  his 
speech,  "  and  with  worshipping  myths  born  of  the 
ignorance  of  man.  Where  shall  the  Maker  be  found? 
Show  me  His  seat,  O  man  of  God,  that  I  may  fall  down 
before  His  footstool !" 

"  God  is  everywhere,  but  His  throne  is  in  thy  heart ! 
His  wisdom  has  no  price,  neither  can  it  be  gotten  for 
gold.  The  depth  says,  It  is  not  in  me  !  The  sea  saith, 
It  is  not  with  me  !  It  cannot  be  weighed  in  the  balance ; 
nor  can  it  be  valued  with  the  gold  of  Ophir ;  and  the 
exchange  of  it  shall  not  be  jewels  of  fine  gold.  The 
topaz  of  Ethiopia  shall  not  purchase  it,  nor  shall  the 
coral  and  pearls  of  the  isles  of  the  sea  equal  it ;  for  the 
price  of  the  wisdom  of  God  is  above  rubies  !  The  fear 
of  the  Lord  that  is  wisdom,  and  lo  the  Almighty  is 
found  of  them  who  humbly  seek  Him.  An  idol,  my 
son,  is  a  snare,  and  the  false  gods  of  the  world  lead  to 
destruction ;  they  have  eyes  but  see  not,  ears  but  hear 
not,  feet  but  walk  not,  hands  which  bless  not,  mouths 
that  speak  no  wisdom!  But  God  is  the  Maker  and 
Father  of  His  creatures,  and  conceaieth  His  glory  in  the 


312  THE  PILLAK  OF  FIEE,   OR 

secret  places  of  His  heaven  ;  yet  the  pure  in  heart  shall 
find  Him,  and  they  that  plead  with  Him  shall  not  be 
mocked.  He  will  come  unto  thee,  and  abide  with  thee, 
and  thou  shalt  know  the  Almighty  as  a  father.  I  have 
tried  Him  and  He  has  proved  me,  and  though  He 
sorely  afflicted  me  He  did  not  forsake  me,  and  in  the 
end  came  to  me  with  more  abundant  honor  and  bless- 
ing." 

"  "Will  God  pardon  transgression  ?"  I  asked,  giving 
utterance  in  this  brief  question  to  a  thought  of  my  heart 
that  no  mythology  could  answer. 

"There  is  no  promise  to  man,  that  transgression 
against  a  sacred  and  sinless  God  can  be  forgiven.  We 
must  hope  in  His  mercy  at  the  end !  I  have  prayed,  in 
my  affliction,  O  prince,  for  a  Day's  man — one  to  stand 
between  me  and  the  Almighty,  to  plead*  for  me  !  My 
heart  hath  yearned  for  One ;  and  I  feel  that  the  yearn 
ing  of  my  heart  is  a  prophecy." 

"  Dost  thou  believe  a  Day's  man,  or  mediator,  will 
be  given  by  the  great  God  to  man,  to  intercede  for 
transgressors  against  His  holiness?"  I  asked,  between 
sweet  hope  and  trembling  fear. 

"  We  have  a  tradition  that  has  overleaped  the  flood 
and  come  down  to  us,  that  One  will  yet  stand  between 
earth  and  heaven  to  plead  with  the  Creator  for  His 
creatures,  and  that  the  Almighty  will  hear  His  voice." 

"  Is  not  this  feebly  typified  in  Horus,  the  son  of  Osiris, 
who  presents  the  souls  of  the  dead  and  acts  as  their 
friend?"  I  asked. 

"  Without  doubt,"  answered  the  Prince  of  Uz.  "  This 
belief  is  found  shadowed  forth  in  all  faiths  of  every 
land.  But  I  must  not  detain  you,  my  lord  prince," 


ISRAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  313 

I  then  accompanied  the  white-haired  Prince  of  Uz  to 
the  galley  in  which  he  had  crossed  the  Nile,  and  taking 
leave  of  him,  promised  to  see  him  ere  he  sailed. 

Believe  me,  dear  mother,  there  is  but  One  God,  and 
that  an  idol  is  nothing  on  earth,  not  even  the  god- 
created  sun.  I  have  since  had  another  long  conversa 
tion  with  the  Prince  of  Uz,  and  he  has  convinced  me 
that  in  worshipping  images  and  attributes  we  offend  the 
High  God,  and  degrade  our  own  natures. 

Farewell,  dear  mother. 

Your  devoted  son, 

SESOSTBIS. 


314:  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 


LETTER    XIX. 

CITY  OF  Ow. 
MY  DEAREST  MOTHER: 

IT  is  many  weeks  since  my  last  letter  was  written. 
The  interval  lias  been  occupied  by  me,  in  visiting  all 
places  of  interest  in  Lower  Egpyt,  previous  to  my  voyage 
up  the  Nile,  to  the  kingdom  of  the  Thebai'd.  But  the  in 
telligence  that  your  last  letter  contains,  of  the  misunder 
standing  arising  between  you  and  the  King  of  Cyprus,  and 
your  fear  that  war  may  ensue,  will  compel  me  to  aban 
don  my  tour  to  the  Cataracts,  and  return  to  Tyre,  unless 
the  next  courier  brings  more  pacific  news.  But  I  trust 
that  the  wisdom  and  personal  influence  of  your  ambas 
sador,  Isaphris,  will  result  in  an  amicable  termination 
of  the  difficulty.  I  have  no  doubt,  that  the  haughty 
King  of  the  Isle  will  make  due  concessions,  for  his  treat 
ment  of  your  shipwrecked  merchantmen,  when  your 
ambassador  disclaims  all  intention,  on  the  part  of  your 
majesty,  of  planting  an  invading  colony  in  any  part  of 
his  shores,  and  assures  him  that  the  vessels,  which  he 
supposed  brought  a  company  of  Phoenicians  to  occupy 
his  soil,  were  driven  thither  when  bound  for  Carthage 
and  distant  Gades.  But  should  he  refuse  to  release  your 
subjects  and  to  restore  their  vessels. and  goods,  war  would 
inevitably  ensue,  and  I  will  hasten  home  to  conduct  it 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  315 

in  person.  Do  not  delay  sending  me  the  earliest  intel 
ligence  by  a  special  galley.  Until  I  hear  from  you,  I 
shall  linger  in  Lower  Egypt. 

Since  writing  the  foregoing,  dear  mother,  I  have  heard 
the  most  important  intelligence  from  the  seat  of  war  in 
Ethiopia  ;  and  what  is  more,  that  the  Prince  Remeses  is 
even  now  on  his  return  to  Memphis,  a  conqueror!  The 
dispatches  brought  by  the  courier  state,  that  four  weeks 
ago  the  army  of  Egypt  engaged  Occhoris,  beyond  the 
gates  of  Thebes,  and  after  a  severe  battle,  in  which  the 
chariots  and  horse  were  engaged,  he  was  forced  to  re 
treat;  that  he  gained  a  new  position,  and  fortified  him 
self,  but  was  dislodged  from  it,  and  finally  routed  in  the 
open  plain,  he  himself  being  taken  prisoner,  with  most 
of  his  chief  captains ;  while  a  great  spoil  in  treasures, 
camp-equipage,  elephants,  camels,  and  horses,  besides 
captives  innumerable,  enriched  the  victors.  This  news 
has  gladdened  the  heart  of  Queen  Amense,  and  relieved 
her  mind  from  the  great  anxiety  that  has  oppressed  it 
ever  since  the  departure  of  Hemeses,  lest  he  should  lose 
his  life  in  the  campaign,  as  his  father  had  done  before 
him.  But,  without  a  wound,  he  returns  triumphant, 
leading  his  enemy  captive  at  the  wheels  of  his  war-char 
iot.  The  city  is  excited  with  joy,  and  in  all  the  tem 
ples,  ascending  incense  and  bleeding  sacrifices,  together 
with  libations  and  oblations,  bear  testimony  to  the  uni 
versal  gratitude  of  the  nation,  at  the  defeat  of  the  heredi 
tary  foe  of  the  kingdom. 

I  will  for  a  time  delay  this  letter,  that  I  may  witness 
the  scenes  in  the  city  and  behold  the  rites  for  victory, 
which,  I  am  told,  will  be  most  imposing,  especially  in 
the  temples  of  Apis  and  of  Vulcan. 


316  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,   OR 

ISLAND  AND  PALACE  OF  EHODA. 

Two  weeks  have  elapsed  since  I  laid  down  my  pen, 
dearest  mother.  In  the  interval  I  have  been  too  much 
occupied  to  resume  it,  but  do  so  now  with  matter  of  the 
deepest  interest  to  communicate.  Remeses  has  returned. 
Two  days  ago  he  entered  Memphis  in  warlike  triumph. 
On  hearing  of  his  approach,  I  hastened  to  meet  him 
three  days'  journey  up  the  Nile.  When  we  met,  he 
embraced  me  as  a  brother,  with  expressions  of  joy ;  but 
the  first  question  he  put  to  me  was : 

"  The  queen — my  mother,  Sesostris,  is  she  well  ?" 

"  "Well,  and  happy  at  your  victories,"  I  answered. 

"  And  your  royal  mother  also,  the  Queen  Epiphia, 
now  fared  she  when  last  you  heard  from  her  ?" 

"  In  good  health,  save  her  wish  to  see  me,"  I  answered. 

Thus,  dear  mother,  did  this  noble  prince,  amid  all  the 
splendor  of  his  victories,  first  think  of  his  mother  and 
mine  !  It  is  this  filial  piety?  which  is  one  of  the  most 
eminent  traits  of  his  lofty  and  pure  character ;  and 
where  love  for  a  mother  reigns  supremely  in  the  heart, 
all  other  virtues  will  cluster  around  it. 

I  found  Remeses  descending  the  river  in  a  hundred- 
oared  galley,  to  which  I  was  conveyed  by  a  barge,  which 
he  sent  for  me,  on  recognizing  me.  It  was  decorated 
with  the  insignia  of  all  the  divisions  of  his  army.  Be 
hind  it  came  two  galleys  containing  the  prisoners  of 
rank,  who  were  bound  in  chains  upon  the  deck.  The 
Ethiopian  king  was  in  the  galley  with  Remeses,  who 
courteously  let  him  go  free  in  the  cabin,  where  he  was 
served  by  his  conqueror's  own  cup-bearer.  Further  in 
the  rear  came  the  fleet,  their  parti-colored  green,  orange, 


ISRAEL  IN   BONDAGE.  31V 

blue,  and  scarlet  sails,  and  the  bronzed  and  gilded  heada 
of  hawks,  eagles,  wolves,  lions,  and  ibises  upon  the  top 
masts,  presenting  a  grand  and  brilliant  spectacle.  Ever 
and  anon,  a  loud,  wild  shout  would  swell  along  the  water, 
from  the  victorious  troops.  One  half  of  the  fleet  had 
been  left  in  the  Thebaid  country  with  Prince  Mceris, 
who  intended  to  invade  the  interior  of  Ethiopia  and 
menace  its  capital. 

You  may  imagine,  dear  mother,  that  Remeses  had 
many  questions  to  ask  and  answer,  as  well  as  I.  I  drew 
from  him  a  modest  narrative  of  his  battles ;  but  he  spoke 
more  freely  of  the  brilliant  courage  of  Prince  Mceris  than 
of  his  own  acts.  After  we  had  sat  in  the  moonlight, 
upon  the  poop  of  his  galley,  conversing  for  several 
hours,  I  asked  permission  to  see  his  royal  captive,  who 
I  fancied  was  some  wild  savage  chief,  with  the  hairy 
head  and  neck  of  a  lion,  and  the  glaring  eyes  of  a  wolf. 
When  I  expressed  my  opinion  to  Remeses,  he  smiled 
and  said : 

"  I  will  send  to  him  and  ask  if  he  will  receive  me  and 
the  Prince  of  Tyre  ;  for  he  has  heard  me  make  mention 
of  you." 

"  You  Egyptians  treat  your  captives  with  delicate 
courtesy,"  I  said,  "  to  send  to  know  if  they  will  receive 


"I  fear  such  is  not  our  custom.  Captives  taken  in 
war  by  our  soldiers,  are,  I  fear,  but  little  better  off  than 
those  of  other  conquering  armies ;  yet  I  have  done  all 
that  is  possible  to  alleviate  their  condition,  and  have 
forbidden  unnecessary  cruelty,  such  as  tying  their  arms 
in  unnatural  positions  and  dragging  them  in  long  lines 
at  the  rear  of  running  chariots !  If  you  see  the  army 


SIS  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

on  shore,  you  will  find  that  it  is  hard  to  teach  the  Egyp- 
tian  soldier  mercy  towards  a  captive  foe." 

I  regarded  the  prince  with  silent  admiration.  "  How 
is  it,"  I  asked  of  myself,  "  that  this  man  is  in  advance 
of  all  his  predecessors  and  before  his  age  in  virtue  ?" 

"His  majesty  will  see  the  Prince  of  Tyre  and  also  his 
conqueror,"  were  the  words  which  the  messenger  brought 
to  Remeses. 

Descending  a  flight  of  steps,  we  advanced  along  a 
second  deck,  and  then  passing  the  door  leading  to 
the  state-cabins,  we  descended  again,  and  carne  to  the 
range  of  apartments  occupied  by  the  governor  of  the 
rowers  and  the  chief  pilot.  The  latter  had  vacated  his 
room  to  the  royal  captive.  Upon  entering,  reclining 
on  a  couch  of  leopard's  skins  spread  in  the  moonlight, 
which  shone  broadly  in  upon  the  floor  through  the 
columns  that  supported  the  deck,  I  beheld  a  young 
man,  not  more  than  my  own  age.  His  features  were 
remarkable.  His  nose  was  slightly  aquiline,  his  fore 
head  high  and  commanding,  his  brows  arched  and  deli 
cate  as  a  woman's,  beneath  which  were  the  blackest 
and  largest  eyes  I  ever  beheld,  and  which  seemed  to 
emit  a  burning  splendor.  His  finely  formed  mouth  was 
almost  voluptuous  in  its  fulness  and  expression  ;  yet  I 
could  perceive  a  slight  nervous  contraction  of  the  under- 
lip,  as  if  he  were  struggling  between  shame  and  haughty 
indifference,  when  he  beheld  us.  His  chin  was  without 
beard.  His  black  locks  were  braided  and  bound  up 
by  a  fillet  of  gold,  studded  with  jewels.  His  helmet, 
which  was  of  beaten  gold,  lay  by  his  side  dented  with 
many  a  stroke  of  sword  and  battle-axe  ;  and  I  saw  that 
a  wound  upon  his  left  temple  corresponded  to  one  of 


ISRAEL    IN   BONDAGE.  319 

these  indentations.  His  hands  were  very  small,  and  of 
a  nut-brown  color  (as  was  his  complexion),  and  covered 
with  massive  rings.  A  collar,  rich  with  emeralds,  encir 
cled  his  neck,  from  which  was  suspended  an  amulet  of 
agate,  and  a  little  silver  box  containing  a  royal  charm. 
He  was  dressed  in  a  gaudy  but  rich  robe  of  needle-work, 
which  was  open  in  front,  and  displayed  a  corselet  and 
breastplate  of  the  finest  steel,  inlaid  with  gold.  His 
small  feet  were  bare,  save  a  light  sandal  of  gilded  ga 
zelle-leather.  Altogether  he  was  as  elegant  and  fine- 
looking  a  barbaric  prince  as  one  would  care  to  behold, 
dear  mother,  and  not  at  all  the  monster  in  aspect  I 
had  pictured  him :  yet  I  am  well  convinced,  that  in  that 
splendid  form  lie  powers  of  endurance  which  make  him 
respected,  by  the  barbarians  he  commands  ;  arid  that 
within  those  fierce  eyes  blazes  a  soul,  as  fiery  as  any 
barbaric  prince  requires;  while  the  firm  expression  ot 
his  mouth,  at  times,  betrayed  a  resolved  and  iron  will, 
with  which  no  one  of  his  subjects  would  willingly  come 
into  antagonism. 

He  half-rose  gracefully  from  his  recumbent  attitude, 
and  said,  with  an  indolent  yet  not  undignified  air,  and 
in  good  Koptic,  as  it  is  spoken  in  the  Thebaid : 

"  Welcome,  Prince  of  Tyre  !  I  am  sorry  I  cannot  ex 
tend  to  you  the  hospitality  you  merit.  You  see  my 
kingdom  is  somewhat  limited !  As  for  you,  O  Prince 
of  Egypt,  who  have  a  right  to  command,  I  need  not  ask 
you  to  be  seated  or  recline."  Then  turning  to  me  again, 
"  I  have  heard  of  Tyre.  You  are  a  nation  of  merchants 
who  cover  the  great  sea  with  caravans  of  galleys,  and 
plant  your  sandals  in  all  lands.  But  you  have  not  yet 
had  Ethiopia  beneath  them." 


320  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

"  Our  commerce  embraces  even  your  own  country's 
productions,  O  king !"  I  answered.  "I have  seen  in  the 
mart  of  Tyre  choenixes  of  gold-dust,  ostrich-feathers, 
dried  fruits  and  skins,  vermilion,  ebony,  ivory,  and  even 
baboons,  apes,  and  leopards.  In  return  we  send  you 
our  purples." 

"  That  is  the  name  of  Tyre,  is  it  not, — the  city  of  pur 
ple-cloth  ?"  he  said  interrogatively,  and  with  a  pointed 
sneer.  "  Ethiopia  signifies  the  land  of  warriors — children 
of  the  sun." 

I  could  not  help  smiling  at  his  vanity.  Remeses  did 
not  say  any  thing.  The  king  then  added,  pleasantly  : 

"  I  have  no  quarrel  with  thee,  O  Tyre !  Receive  this 
ring — that  is,  if  the  great  Remeses  do  not  regard  all  .1 
possess,  as  well  as  myself,  his  spoil — receive  it  in  token 
that  we  are  at  peace." 

As  he  spoke,  he  drew  from  his  thumb  a  jewel  of 
great  price,  and,  taking  my  hand,  placed  it  upon  my 
thumb,  without  looking  to  see  whether  Remeses  ap 
proved  or  no. 

After  a  brief  interview  I  left  his  presence,  and  soon 
retired  to  my  state-room.  Remeses  insists  upon  my 
retaining  the  ring,  which,  in  truth,  the  Ethiopian  king, 
being  a  captive,  had  no  right  to  dispose  of.  Re- 
meses  says  that  he  displayed  the  most  daring  courage 
and  marvellous  generalship  in  battle  ;  ..and  that,  though 
young,  and  apparently  effeminate,- IIG- Inherits  all  the 
fierce,  barbaric  spirit  of  his  ancestor,  Sabaco  I.,  and  of 
his  uncle,  Bocchiris  the  Great,  and  third  of  the  name. 

At  length  arrived  at  the  island  of  Rhoda,  Remeses 
hastened  to  embrace  his  mother,  and  U>  render  to  her 
an  account  of  his  expedition.  The  next  day,  prepara- 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  321 

tions  were  made  to  receive  the  vast  and  victorious  army, 
which  had  been  slowly  marching  towards  the  capital, 
along  the  western  bank  of  the  river.  They  entered  the 
plain  of  the  pyramids  on  the  same  night,  column  suc 
ceeding  column  in  a  long  line,  attended  by  an  intermina 
ble  train  of  captives,  and  by  wagons,  cars,  and  chariots 
laden  with  spoils  of  arms,  treasures,  goods,  and  military 
stores.  Having  encamped  on  their  former  ground,  they 
awaited  the  signal  to  move  towards  the  city  in  trium 
phal  procession. 

The  following  morning  the  queen  made  her  appear 
ance  at  the  head  of  the  great  square,  in  front  of  the 
temple  of  Apis.  She  was  arrayed  in  her  royal  robes, 
and  seated  in  a  state-chariot  of  ivory,  inlaid  with  gold, 
drawn  by  four  white  horses  driven  abreast,  richly  capari 
soned,  and  with  ostrich-plumes  nodding  on  their  heads. 
Attended  by  a  splendid  retinue  of  the  lords  of  her  pal 
ace,  she  took  a  position  near  the  pylon,  surrounded  by 
her  body-guard,  in  their  glittering  cuirasses  of  silver, 
and  bearing  slender  lances  in  their  right  hands.  The 
lords  of  the  realm  were  ranged,  in  extended  wings,  on 
either  side  of  her  chariot ;  the  whole  presenting  a  stri 
kingly  beautiful  spectacle. 

When  all  was  arranged,  from  the  portals  of  the  vast 
temple,  headed  by  the  hierarch  in  full  dress,  issued  a 
procession  of  four  hundred  priests,  a  shining  host,  with 
golden  tiaras,  and  censers  of  gold,  and  crimson  vest 
ments.  Other  sacred  processions  came  advancing  along 
all  the  streets,  headed  by  their  chiefs,  each  escorting  the 
god  of  their  temple  in  a  gorgeous  shrine,  blazing  with 
the  radiance  of  precious  stones. 

Prince  Remeses,  attended  by  the  governor  of  the 
14* 


322  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

city,  the  twenty-one  rulers  of  the  departments  thereof, 
and  by  all  dignitaries,  of  whatever  office,  in  their  sump 
tuous  robes  and  badges  of  rank,  had  already  departed 
from  the  city  to  meet  the  army,  which,  headed  by  its 
generals,  was  in  full  motion.  They ...came  on  in  columns 
of  battalions,  as  if  marching  through  an  enemy's  coun 
try,  and  with  all  the  pomp  of  war — their  battle-banners 
waving,  and  their  bands  of  music  sounding.  Instead  of 
accompanying  Remeses,  I  remained,  by  her  request, 
near  the  queen.  The  towers  of  the  pylones,  the  roofs  of 
temples,  the  colonnades  of  palaces,  terraces,  house-tops 
• — every  vantage-point — were  crowded  thickly  with  spec 
tators. 

At  length  the  voice  of  trumpets,  faint  and  far  off, 
broke  the  silence  of  expectation.  Nearer  and  louder  it 
was  heard,  now  rising  on  the  breeze,  now  gradually  dy 
ing  away  ;  but  soon  other  instruments  were  heard  :  the 
cymbals,  the  drum,  the  pipe  and  the  cornet  from  a  hun 
dred  bands  poured  upon  the  air  a  martial  uproar  of  in 
struments,  which  made  the  blood  bound  quicker  in  every 
pulse.  All  eyes  were  now  turned  in  the  direction  of 
the  entrance  to  the  grand  causeway  of  the  pyramids, 
and  in  a  few  moments,  amid  the  answering  clangor  of 
the  brazen  trumpets  of  the  queen's  guards,  a  party  of 
cavalry,  shining  like  the  sun,  dashed  into  sight. 

Their  appearance  was  hailed  by  the  vast  assemblage 
of  spectators  with  acclamations.  Then  came  one  hun 
dred  and  seventy  .priests  abreast,  representing  the  male 
deities  of  Memphis,  each  attired  like  the  image  of  his 
god — an  imposing  and  wonderful  spectacle  ;  as  in  it 
Horns  was  not  without  his  hawk-head,  nor  Thotli  his 
horns  and  globe.  Anubis  displayed  the  head  of  a 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDA'GE.  323 

jackal,  and  Osiris  held  the  emblems  of  his  rank.  These 
were  followed  by  the  high-priest  of  On,  before  whom 
was  borne  the  shield  of  the  sun,  resting  upon  a  car  car 
ried  by  twenty-four  men,  representing  the  hours.  Fol 
lowing  these  were  one  thousand  priests — a  hundred  in 
line — chanting,  with  mighty  voice,  the  song  of  victory 
to  the  gocls.  They  were  succeeded  by  a  battalion  of 
cavalry,  the  front  of  which  h'lled  the  whole  breadth  of 
xhe  avenue.  It  advanced  in  solid  column,  till  four  thou 
sand  horsemen,  in  varied  armor  and  arms,  had  entered 
the  immense  quadrangle.  "Now  burst  out  afresh  the 
clang  of  martial  bands,  and  alone  in  his  state-chariot, 
drawn  by  three  black  steeds,  appeared  the  Prince  ot 
Egypt,  standing  erect  upon  the  floor  of  his  car.  He  was 
in  full  armor,  and  so  splendid  was  his  appearance,  so  ma 
jestic  his  aspect,  that  lie  was  hailed  with  a  thunder  of 
voices,  as  conqueror !  Leaving  the  golden-hued  reins 
loosely  attached  to  the  hilt  of  his  sword,  he  suffered  his 
proudly  stepping  horses  freely  to  prance  and  curvet, 
yet  held  them  obedient  to  the  slightest  gesture  of  his 
hand.  On  each  side  of  their  heads  walked  three  foot 
men.  Behind  him  came  his  war-chariot  of  iron,  from 
which  he  had  fought  in  battle  on  the  Theban  plains. 
The  horses  were  led  by  two  lords  of  Egypt,  and  it  was 
empty,  save  that  it  held  his  battered  shield,  emptied 
quiver,  broken  lances,  the  hilt  of  his  sword,  and  his 
dented  helmet — mute  witnesses  of  his  presence  in  the 
heat  of  battle.  Behind  the  chariot  was  a  guard  of 
honor,  consisting  of  a  brave  soldier  out  of  every  com 
pany  in  the  army.  But  close  to  it,  his  wrists  locked 
together  with  a  massive  chain  of  gold,  which  was  at 
tached  to  the  axle  of  the  war-chariot,  walked  the  captive 


324  THE  "PILLAR  OF  FIRE,  OR 

King  of  Ethiopia.  His  step  was  proud  and  defiant,  and 
a  constant  smile  of  contempt  curled  his  lip,  as  he  saw  the 
eyes  of  the  spectators  bent  upon  him,  and  heard  their 
shouts  of  hostile  joy  on  beholding  him.  He  moved,  the 
king  in  heart,  though  bound  in  hand.  Over  his  shoul 
ders  hung  a  lion's  skin  as  a  royal  mantle,  but  his  feet 
were  bare.  Behind  him  came  a  solid  front  of  chariots, 
which,  line  behind  line,  rolled  into  the  square,  until 
nearly  three  thousand  war-cars  had  entered,  and  moved, 
with  all  the  van  of  the  vast  warlike  procession,  towards 
the  great  pylon,  before  which,  in  her  chariot,  stood  the 
Queen  of  Egypt ;  for,  as  soon  as  the  head  of  the  column 
came  in  sight,  she  had  risen  to  her  feet  to  receive  her  re 
turning  army. 

When  Remeses  came  before  her,  he  turned  his  horses 
towards  her  and  remained  at  her  side.  Past  them 
marched  first  the  foot-soldiers.  To  the  sound  of  drums 
and  the  tramp  of  ten  thousand  sandals,  they  wheeled 
into  the  arena  of  temples,  elevating  their  war-hacked 
symbols,  each  man  laden  with  his  spoil.  Then  it  was, 
that  a  company  of  sacred  virgins,  issuing  from  the  tem 
ple  of  Athor,  each  with  a  silver  star  upon  her  brow,  all 
clad  in  white,  and  bearing  branches  of  flowers,  green 
palm-branches,  ivy  and  lotus  leaves,  cast  them  before 
the  army,  and  sang  with  beautiful  voices  the  hymn 
of  the  Conqueror.  As  they  passed,  the  priests,  with 
censers,  waved  incense  towards  them,  and  others  sprin 
kled  sacred  water  in  the  path  of  the  battle-worn  war 
riors.  The  soldiers  responded  to  the  hymn  of  the 
maidens  with  a  loud  chorus,  that  rent  the  skies  as  they 
marched  and  sang. 

"When  half  the  army  had  defiled,  there  came  a  pro- 


ISKAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  325 

cession  of  Ethiopian  cars  and  wagons,  drawn  by  captured 
oxen,  and  laden  with  trophies.  Upon  one  was  piled 
scores  of  shields,  another  was  filled  with  helmets,  a  third 
bristled  with  spears,  and  a  fourth  was  weighed  down  by 
cuirasses  and  swords.  After  many  hundreds  of  these 
had  passed — for  the  whole  Ethiopian  army  was  de 
stroyed  and  their  possessions  captured — came  chariots, 
heavy  with  chests  containing  gold,  and  silver,  and 
bronze  vessels;  others  glaring  with  ivory  tusks;  others 
full  of  blocks  of  ebony.  Five  royal  elephants,  with 
their  castles  and  keepers,  and  a  troop  of  camels,  laden 
with  treasures  and  mounted  by  their  wild-looking 
guides,  preceded  a  body  of  horse  escorting  the  purple 
pavilion  of  the  captive  king — a  gorgeous  yet  barbaric 
edifice  of  ivory  frames,  covered  with  silk  and  fringed 
with  gold.  Next  came  a  painted  car  containing  his 
wives,  all  of  whom  were  closely  veiled,  and  followed  by 
a  train  of  royal  servants  and  slaves. 

Bringing  up  the  rear  of  the  immense  procession  was 
another  large  body  of  horse,  at  the  head  of  a  long 
column  of  captives,  twelve  thousand  in  number — the 
disarmed  and  chained  soldiers  of  the  defeated  monarch. 
Such  a  spectacle  of  human  misery,  such  an  embodiment 
of  human  woe ! — how  can  I  depict  the  scene,  my 
mother !  Perhaps  when  I  am  older,  and  have  seen 
more  of  wrar  than  I  have,  I  may  feel  less  sympathy  at  a 
sight  so  painful,  and  be  more  indifferent  to  the  neces 
sary  horrors  of  this  dread  evil. 

Their  features  denoted  them  to  be  of  a  race  very  dif 
ferent  from  the  Egyptian.  They  were  slender  and  tall, 
with  swarthy,  but  not  black,  faces  like  the  Nubians — 
showing  more  of  the  Oriental  than  the  African  in  their 


32G  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

physiognomy.  Their  long  hair  hung  half-way  down  the 
back,  and  they  were  dressed  in  costumes  as  various  as 
the  tribes  which  composed  the  army  of  Occhoris. 

These  captives  marched  in  parties  of  from  one  to  two 
hundred  each — some  linked  by  the  wrists  to  a  long 
connecting  chain  passing  along  the  line  ;  others,  chained 
two  and  two  by  the  hands,  and  with  shackled  feet,  were 
led  by  their  captors.  Many  of  them  were  confined  to 
a  long  iron  bar,  by  neck-collars,  eight  and  ten  abreast, 
each  compelled  to  step  together,  and  sit  or  rise  at  the 
same  moment,  or  be  subjected  to  dislocation  of  the 
neck.  Several,  of  the  most  unmanageable,  were  tied 
with  their  hands  high  above  their  heads,  in  the  most 
painful  positions ;  while  other  wretches  were  so  cruelly 
bound,  that  their  arms  met  behind  in  the  most  unnatural 
manner.  There  was  a  long  chain  of  Nubian  and  South 
ern  Arabian  soldiers  so  bound,  who  writhed  in  agony 
as  they  were  forced  onward  in  the  march.  After  these 
came  hundreds  of  women  and  children,  the  latter  naked, 
and  led  by  the  hand,  or  carried  by  their  mothers  in 
baskets,  slung  behind  by  a  belt  carried  across  the  fore 
head.  Finally,  when  these  had  passed  the  queen,  who 
humanely  ordered  those  so  unnaturally  bound  to  be 
relieved,  the  rear  division  of  the  army  came  tramping 
on,  with  symbols  aloft,  and  drums  beating,  and  trumpets 
blowing. 

At  length,  this  vast  army  of  nearly  one  hundred 
thousand  men,  including  chariots,  horsemen,  and  foot- 
soldiers,  had  marched  past  before  the  queen,  receiving 
her  thanks  and  smiles,  and  the  flowers  that  were  show 
ered  upon  them  from  thousands  of  fair  hands.  As  they 
moved  on,  they  wheeled  in  column,  and  gradually  filled 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  327 

up  the  whole  area  of  the  vast  quadrangle,  save  the 
space  in  front  of  the  pyramidal  gateway,  where  the 
queen  and  Remeses  stood  in  their  chariots. 

At  this  juncture,  the  high-priest  of  On — a  man  of 
venerable  aspect — amid  the  profoundest  silence,  ad 
vanced  before  them,  and  thus  addressed  Prince  Re- 
meses : 

"Mighty  and  excellent  prince,  and  lord  of  worlds, 
43n  of  the  queen,  and  upholder  of  the  kingdoms  of  the 
oarth,  may  the  gods  bless  thee  and  grant  thee  honor  and 
prosperity !  Thou  hast  led  the  armies  of  Misr  to  battle, 
and  conquered.  Thou  hast  brought  down  the  pride  of 
Ethiopia,  and  placed  the  crown  of  the  South  underneath 
thy  foot.  Thou  hast  fought,  and  overthrown,  and  taken 
captive  the  enemy  of  Egypt,  and  the  scourge  of  the 
world.  Lo.  chained  he  walks  at  thy  chariot-wheels !  his 
soldiers  are  captives  to  thy  sword,  and  his  spoil  is  in 
thy  hand !  By  thy  courage  in  bsfttle,  thou  hast  saved 
Egypt  from  desolation,  filled  her  borders  with  peace, 
and  covered  her  name  with  glory.  Let  thy  power, 
henceforth,  be  exalted  in  the  world  like  the  sun  in  the 
heavens,  and  thy  glory  and  virtues  only  be  equalled  by 
those  of  the  sacred  deities  themselves !" 

Remeses,  with  the  gentle  dignity  and  modesty  which 
characterize  him,  replied  to  this  eulogistic  address  of  the 
Egyptian  pontiff.  The  queen  then  embraced  him  before 
the  whole  army,  which  cried,  "  Long  live  our  queen  ! 
Long  live  Remeses  our  general !"  All  the  while  Oc- 
choris  stood  by  the  wheel  of  the  chariot  to  which  he 
was  chained,  his  arms  folded,  and  his  bearing  as  proud 
as  that  of  a  caged  lion.  He  did  not  even  deign  to  look 
upon  the  queen,  whom  he  had  never  before  beheld ; 


328  THE  PILLAR  OF  FIRE,  OR 

and  seemed  to  be  above,  or  below,  all  manifestation  of 

\  curiosity.  Self-reliance,  fearlessness,  immobility,  char 

acterized  him. 

Preparations  having  already  been  made  for  a  national 
thanksgiving,  the  queen  and  Remeses  descended  from 
their  chariots,  and  led  a  procession  consisting  of  the 
priest  of  On,  the  high -priest  of  Apis,  the  priest  of 
Memphis,  hierophants  and  chief  priests  from  each  of  the 
thirty- eight  or  forty  nomes,  and  several  hundreds  of 
ecclesiastics  in  magnificent  dresses.  This  august  pro 
cession  entered  the  great  temple  of  Pthah.  Here,  after 
an  imposing  invocation,  offerings  from  the  queen  to  the 
presiding  deity,  and  also  to  Mars — whose  statue  was 
present, — were  made  in  recognition  of  their  presence 
with  the  victorious  army,  and  as  an  acknowledgment 
that  it  was  by  their  special  favor  and  intercession  that 
the  victory  had  been  obtained. 

This  done,  Hemeses,  in  a  formal  manner,  addressed 
the  priest  of  the  temple,  presenting  to  the  deity  all  the 
prisoners,  and  the  spoil  taken  with  them.  As  the  vast 
army  could  not  enter  the  temple,  each  captain  of  fifty 
and  of  a  hundred  was  present  for  his  own  men.  The 
high-priest  then  went  forth  upon  the  portico  of  the  tem 
ple,  and  on  an  altar  there,  in  the  presence  of  the 
whole  army,  offered  incense,  meat-offerings,  and  liba 
tions. 

All  these  customs  and  rites  being  ended,  the  army 
once  more  commenced  its  march,  and  passed  through 
the  city,  and  beyond  the  pyramid  of  Cheops'  daughter 
to  the  plain  of  Libya,  where  Osirtasen  used  to  review  his 
armies.  There  they  pitched  their  camp,  prior  to  being 
posted  and  garrisoned  in  different  parts  of  Egypt, — • 


ISRAEL  IN  BONDAGE.  329 

eadj  again  to  be  summoned,  at  three  days'  notice,  to  go 
torth  to  war. 

The  captives,  being  delivered  up  to  the  authorities, 
were  at  once  put  to  labor  in  the  service  of  the  queen, 
and  are  already  engaged  in  building  temples,  cutting 
canals,  raising  dykes  and  embankments,  and  other  pub 
lic  and  state  works.  Some  were  purchased  by  the 
nobles ;  and  the  women,  both  Nubian  and  white,  were 
distributed  among  the  wealthy  and  noble  families  in  the 
city.  The  Hebrew  is  the  only  captive  or  servant  in 
Egypt  who  cannot  be  bought  and  sold.  Those  who 
have  them  in  their  houses  do  not  own  them,  for,  as  a 
nation,  they  belong  to  the  crown ;  but  the  queen's  treas 
urer  is  paid  a  certain  tribute  or  tax  for  their  service, 
and  must  restore  them  whenever  the  queen  commands 
them  to  do  so. 

The  King  of  Ethiopia,  himself,  after  having  been 
led  through  the  city  at  the  chariot-wheel  of  his 
conqueror,  was  sent  to  the  royal  prison,  there  to 
await  his  fate,  which  hangs  upon  the  word  of  the 
queen. 

It  is  possible  he  may  be  redeemed  by  his  own  nation 
with  a  vast  ransom-price ;  but  if  not,  he  will  probably 
pass  his  days  a  captive,  unless  he  consents  to  a  proposi 
tion,  which  will  be  made  to  him  by  the  prince,  for 
recovering  his  liberty — namely,  the  surrender  of  the 
northern  half  of  his  kingdom  to  Egypt,  in  order  that  he 
may  be  permitted  to  reign  over  the  remainder.  As  half 
a  kingdom  is  far  belter  than  none,  any  other  monarch 
would  probably  acquiesce ;  but  the  spirit  of  this  king 
(whose  looks  and  movements  irresistibly  make  me  think 
of  a  Nubian  leopard)  is  so  indomitable  and  proud,  that 


330  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

I  believe  he  would  rather  die  a  prisoner  in  a  dungeon 
than  live  a  king  with  half  a  sceptre. 

This  letter,  dear  mother,  has  been  written  at  three  or 
four  different  sittings,  with  a  greater  or  less  interval  of 
time  between  them.  It  was  my  intention  to  have  given 
you,  before  closing  it,  some  account  of  a  meeting  which 
I  had  with  a  remarkable  Hebrew,  whose  resemblance  to 
Bemeses,  is,  if  possible,  more  striking  than  that  of 
Miriam  the  papyrus  writer,  or  of  Amram  the  royal 
gardener.  But  having  quite  filled  it  with  a  description 
of  the  triumphal  entry  of  Bemeses  into  the  capital,  I 
must  defer  doing  so  till  another  occasion. 

With  my  most  affectionate  wishes  for  your  happiness, 
I  ana,  my  beloved  mother, 

Your  faithful  son, 

SESOSTKIS. 


ISRAEL    IN   BONDAGE. 


LETTER   XX. 

PALACE  OF  RHODA. 

MY  DEARLY  BELOVED  MoTHEK  : 

THE  excitement,  which  the  return  of  the  triumph  • 
ant  army  from  its  brilliant  Ethiopian  campaign  created, 
has  now  subsided,  and  the  cities  of  Memphis  and  On, 
and  the  thousand  villages  in  the  valley  of  the  Kile,  have 
returned  to  their  ordinary  quiet,  interrupted  only  by  re 
ligious  processions,  the  music  of  a  banquet,  or  the  fes 
tivities  of  a  marriage.  In  this  delicious  climate,  where 
there  is  no  particular  incentive  to  action,  the  general 
state  of  the  people  is  one  of  indolence  and  leisure.  The 
chief  business,  at  the  marts  and  quays,  is  over  before  the 
sun  is  at  meridian ;  and  during  the  remainder  of  the 
day,  shade  and  repose  are  coveted.  But  when  the  sun 
sinks  westward,  and  hangs  low  over  the  brown  hills  of 
Libya,  this  inaction  ceases,  and  all  classes,  in  their  best 
apparel  and  most  cheerful  looks,  fill  the  streets,  the 
groves,  the  gardens,  the  walks  and  avenues  along  the 
river;  and  the  spirit  of  enjoyment  and  life  reigns. 

One  evening,  not  long  since,  I  strolled  along  the 
banks  of  the  Nile,  beneath  a  row  of  mimosa-trees,  to 
enjoy  the  gay  and  attractive  scenes  upon  the  river.  It 


332  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

was  covered  with  gayly  painted  barges,  containing  liappy 
family  parties,  whose  musicians  played  for  them  as  the 
rowers  slowly  and  idly  propelled  the  boat ;  others,  in 
sharp-pro  wed  barisse,  darted  in  emulous  races  across  the 
water;  others  were  suspended  upon  the  bosom  of  the 
stream,  fishing  for  amusement ;  while  others  still  moved 
about,  with  their  beautifully  pictured  sails  spread  to  the 
gentle  breeze,  as  if  enjoying  the  panorama  of  the  shores 
they  were  gliding  past. 

I  had  rambled  alone  some  distance  up  the  river,  with 
out  any  vestige  of  my  rank  being  apparent,  in  the  plain 
Phoenician  costume  of  a  Tyrian  merchant  (which  I  often 
wear,  to  prevent  constant  interruption  by  the  homage 
and  prostrations  of  the  deferent  Egyptians),  when  I  saw 
a  small  baris,  containing  a  single  person,  coming  close 
to  the  steps  of  the  extensive  terrace  of  one  of  the  nu 
merous  temples  of  the  image  of  Apis,  which  here  faced 
the  Nile,  separated  from  it  only  by  a  double  row  of 
sphinxes.  It  was  rowed  by  four  Nubian  slaves,  clad  in 
white  linen  vests  and  fringed  loin-cloths,  each  having  a 
red  cap  upon  his  head. 

As  the  boat  approached  the  marble  steps,  a  decorated 
and  unusually  elegant  galley,  containing  three  young 
men  of  rank,  as  their  dress  and  the  emblems  on  their 
mast  indicated,  was  coming  swiftly  down  the  stream,  as 
if  the  owner  strove  to  display  the  fleetness  of  his  vessel 
before  the  eyes  of  the  thousands  who  looked  on.  The 
pilot,  at  the  lofty  helm,  called  out  to  the  baris  to  move 
quicker  away  from  the  line  of  his  course ;  but  either  the 
rowers  failed  to  hear  or  to  comprehend,  for  they  did 
not  turn  their  heads.  On  like  the  wind  came  the  galley. 
I  called  aloud  to  the  person  who  sat  in  the  stern  of  the 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  333 

oaris,  and  who  was  intently  engaged  in  reading  a  book, 
a  portion  of  which  lay  unrolled  at  his  feet. 

He  looked  up  quickly,  and  saw,  first  me,  and  then, 
by  the  direction  of  my  finger,  his  danger.  Before,  how 
ever,  he  could  give  orders  to  his  rowers,  I  heard  one  oi' 
the  young  men  say  to  the  pilot,  who  was  changing  his 
course  a  little — 

£"  Keep  right  on !     It  is  but  a  Hebrew ;  and  it  would 
be  a  favor  to  the  gods  to  drown  a  thousand  a  day." 

The  pilot  obeyed  his  lord,  and  the  bronze  hawk-head 
of  the  gilded  galley  struck  the  boat  near  the  stern,  nearly 
capsizing  it,  and  then  the  whole  armament  of  twelve 
oars  passed  over  it,  striking  overboard  two  of  the  slaves, 
as  the  twenty-four  oarsmen  swept  the  galley  along  at 
the  height  of  its  speed.  I  expected  to  see  the  priest, 
for  such  his  costume  betrayed  him,  also  pressed  down 
by  the  long  oars,  under  which,  like  a  low  roof  of  in 
clined  rafters,  he  was  entangled ;  but  stooping  low  until 
his  forehead  touched  the  book  on  his  knee,  the  sweeps 
passed  harmlessly  over  him,  and  when  the  galley  had 
gone  by,  he  recovered  his  sitting  posture,  maintaining, 
the  while,  a  composure  and  dignity  that  made  me  marvel. 
His  dark,  handsome,  oriental  face  betrayed  scarcely  any 
emotion  at  the  danger  or  the  indignity.  Seeing  that  one 
of  the  slaves  was  swimming  ashore,  and  that  the  other 
rose  no  more,  he  waved  his  hand  to  the  remaining  two 
who  had  fallen  into  the  bottom  of  the  boat,  and  who, 
recovering  their  oars,  pulled  him  to  the  steps. 
\(.  "  A  Hebrew !"  repeated  I  to  myself.  "  Truly,  and  the 
very  likeness  of  Eemeses,  save  that  his  hair  is  of  a 
browner  hue,  and  his  beard  tinged  with,  a  golden  light. 
A  Hebrew  !  What  philosophy  under  insult  and  peril  I 


334.  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,  OR 

A  Hebrew !  What  contempt  of  him  and  his  life  was 
evinced  by  the  haughty  Egyptian  noble  !  A  Hebrew, 
and  a, priest.'" 

Such  were  the  reflections  to  which  I  gave  utterance, 
in  an  under- tone. 

He  debarked,  and  giving  an  order  to  the  slaves, 
placed  his  scroll  of  papyrus  beneath  his  robe,  and, 
ascending  the  steps,  bowed  low,  and  with  singular  cour 
tesy  (for  the  Hebrews,  mother,  are  naturally  the  most 
polished  and  benignant  people  in  the  world),  said  in  the 
Phoenician  tongue — 

"  I  am  indebted  to  you,  sir  merchant,  for  my  life ! 
Your  timely  voice  enabled  me  to  save  myself,  although 
I  have  lost  one  of  the  poor  Nubian  lads.  Accept  my 
gratitude !" 

I  could  not  remove  my  eyes  from  his  face.  It  fasci 
nated  me  !  It  seemed  to  be  Remeses  himself  speaking 
to  me  ;  yet  the  hair  of  the  prince  is  raven-black,  and 
his  beard  also,  while  this  man's  is  a  rich  brown,  and  his 
fine  beard  like  a  golden  river.  The  eyes  of  Remeses 
are  black,  with  a  mild  expression  naturally,  as  if  they 
were  animated  by  a  gentle  spirit ;  while  those  of  the 
priest  are  hazel,  or  rather  a  brilliant  bronze,  and  full  ot 
the  light  of  courage  and  of  ardent  fire.  In  person  he 
is  just  the  height  of  Remeses — carried  his  head  in  the 
same  imperial  manner,  as  if  born  to  command ;  and  the 
tones  of  his  voice  are  marked  by  that  rich  emotional 
cadence — winning  the  ear  and  touching  the  heart — 
which  characterizes  the  prince.  His  step  is  firm  and 
commanding — his  motions  self-poised  and  dignified.  He 
seems  three  or  four  years  older  than  Remeses;  but 
the  likeness  of  the  features,  and  the  entire  presence  of 


ISEAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  335 

the  stranger  recalled  *niy  royal  friend  so  forcibly  to  my 
mind,  on  the  occasion  of  which  I  speak,  that  I  said 
mentally — "  Were  the  Prince  Remeses  a  Hebrew,  or 
V  were  this  Hebrew  an  Egyptian,  I  should  think  them 
cousins,  if  not  brothers !" 

Pardon  me,  dear  mother,  for  thus  speaking  of  a  royal 
personage ;  but  I  only  make  use  of  the  language,  to  ex 
press  to  you  how  wonderful  in  every  way,  save  in  the 
color  of  hair  and  eyes,  is  the  resemblance  of  this  man     . 
to  the  prince. 

"  I  did  but  a  common  duty  to  a  fellow-being,"  was 
my  reply.  "  But  why  did  you  address  me  in  Syriac  ?" 

"  Are  you  not  a  Syrian  merchant  ?"  he  asked,  looking 
at  me  more  closely,  after  I  had  spoken. 

"  I  am  from  Tyre,"  I  answered.  "  You  are  a  He 
brew?" 

"  Yes,"  was  his  reply,  casting  down  his  eyes  and  mov 
ing  past  me  towards  the  temple. 

"  Stay  one  moment,"  I  said.  He  turned  and  regarded 
me  with  a  look  of  surprise ;  just  such  an  one  as  the  He 
brew  woman  Miriam, — to  whom  also,  dear  mother,  he 
bore  a  very  striking  resemblance, — gave  me  when  I 
irresistibly  addressed  her,  in  the  courteous  tone  I  would 
have  used  towards  any  of  her  sex :  such  was  my  tone  in 
speaking  to  this  Hebrew  ;  for  although  his  dress  showed 
that  he  was  only  a  neophyte,  or  attendant  with  secular 
duties,  yet  the  man  himself  commanded  my  respect. 

"  May  I  inquire,  without  offence,  why  I  see  a  Hebrew 
in  the  service  of  religion  ?" 

"  When  we  are  only  degraded  slaves,  and  brick  and 
clay  workers,  and  worship  not  the  gods  cf  Egypt  ?"  he 
answered  interrogatively ;  and  I  imagined  I  detected  a 


336  THE   PILLAR  OF  FIRE,   OR 

haughty  light  in  his  eyes,  and  a  movement  of  his  lip, 
caused  by  a  keen  sense  of  the  degradation  of  which  he 
spake. 

"  You  have  expressed  my  motives,"  I  replied.  "  If 
you  are  proceeding  along  the  avenue  of  sphinxes,  I  will 
accompany  you,  as  I  am  merely  loitering." 

"  Will  you  be  seen  walking  with  a  Hebrew,  my  lord 
prince  ?"  he  said,  significantly. 

"  You  know  my  rank,  then  ?" 

"  Your  language  betrays  you ;  merchants  do  not  speafi: 
as  you  do.  Besides,  the  signet  of  Prince  Remeses,  on 
your  hand,  designates  your  rank.  I  have,  moreover, 
heard  you  described  by  one,  who  will  never  forget  that 
the  first  words  of  kindness  he  ever  received,  save  from 
his  kinsfolk,  fell  upon  his  ears  from  your  lips,  O  Prince 
of  Tyre !" 

"  Who  is  he  ?"  I  asked  with  interest. 

"  The  lad  Israel,  whom  you  assisted  in  restoring  to 
animation  by  the  well  of  Jacob  the  Shepherd!" 

"  At  the  strangers'  fountain !"  I  repeated.  "  This 
little  act  seems  to  be  known  to  all  the  Hebrews !" 

"  Not  to  all,  but  to  a  few,"  he  answered  ;  "  yet  it  will 
be  heard  of  by  all  of  them ;  for  kindness  and  sympathy 
from  any  one,  especially  from  a  foreign  prince,  is  so 
strange  an  event  that  it  will  fly  from  lip  to  ear.  Your 
name,  O  noble  Sesostris,  will  be  engraven  in  every  mem 
ory,  and  the  sound  thereof  warm  hope  in  every  heart  !r 

He  spoke  with  deep  feeling.  We  walked  some  dis 
tance  side  by  side  without  speaking.  After  a  few  me 
ments'  silence  I  said — 

"  Where  is  the  youth  Israel  ?" 

"  With  his  people  near  Raamses." 


ISRAEL    IN   BONDAGE.  337 

**  I  am  to  receive  him  into  my  service." 

"  He  will  faithfully  serve  you,  my  lord  prince.  He 
is  of  niy  kindred,  and  I  shall  be  grateful  to  you  for  pro 
tecting  his  weakness.  Every  shoulder  in  Israel  cannot 
bear  the  burden !" 

"  Are  you  then  of  the  family  of  Miriam  ?"  I  asked, 
recollecting  that  the  ritual  transcriber,  in  the  palace  of 
the  hierarch,  had  also  claimed  kindred  with  the  son  of 
the  venerable  Ben  Isaac. 

"  Miriam  the  scribe  ?" 

"  In  the  service  of  Luxora  and  Osiria,  of  Memphis." 

"  She  is  my  sister." 

"  I  would  have  said  it !"  I  answered.  "Is  your  father 
dving  ?" 

"  He  is  in  charge  of  the  queen's  flower-garden  in  On." 

"  I  know  him,"  I  answered. 

"  It  is  he  who  has  spoken  of  you  to  me,  as  well  as  the 
aged  Ben  Isaac,  young  Israel,  and  Miriam.  Therefore 
did  I  at  once  recognize  you,  when  your  polished  words 
led  me  to  see  that  you  were  in  rank  above  chief  pilots 
and  governors  of  galleys." 

"Will  you  reply  to  my  inquiry?  for,  as  we  know  each 
other's  friends,  we  need  not  now  discourse  wholly  as 
strangers.  How  came  you,  being  a  Hebrew,  to  become 
a  priest?  Do  not  you  Hebrews  worship  the  One  In 
finite  Maker  and  Upholder  of  worlds  ?" 

"  There  are  a  few  who  retain,  unmixed  with  supersti 
tion  and  idol-worship,  the  knowledge  of  the  one  God  of 
our  ancestors  Abraham,  Jacob,  and  Joseph ;  but  this 
knowledge  is  confined,  chiefly,  to  the  descendants  of  one 
man,  Levi ;  and  only  to  a  few  of  these.  The  residue  are 
little  better  than  the  Egyptians." 

15 


338  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

"  Art  them  of  the  family  of  this  Levi?"  I  asked. 

"I  am.  We  are  more  given  to  study  than  our  breth- 
ren,  and  seek  knowledge  and  wisdom.  Hence  it  is, 
that  some  of  our  tribe  are  taken  from  the  labor  of  the 
field  to  serve  the  priests.  We  arc  ready  writers,  skil 
ful  with  the  stylus  and  the  coloring  pencil,  and  our  lot 
is  preferable  to  that  of  others,  who  are  more  ignorant. 
Hence  you  behold  me  a  servitor  in  an  Egyptian  tem 
ple  !" 

"  Hast  them  long  been  in  this  service  ?"  I  asked,  as  we 
stopped  in  the  shade  of  the  pyramidion  of  an  obelisk,  in 
front  of  the  temple  porch. 

"  From  a  child." 

"  So  early !  Then  them  hast  not  borne  the  toils  of  thy 
people." 

"Ijwas  discovered  upon  the  baiiks  of  the  Nile,  in  my 
fourth  year, near  the  Island  of  Rhoda,  weeping  bitterly; 
for  I  had  seen  my  mother  commit  my  infant  brother  to 
a  basket  and  launch  it  upon  the  river ;  and  observing  it 
borne  down  by  the  current,  young  as  I  was,  I  so  felt  all 
its  danger,  that  I  ran  as  wTell  as  I  could  along  the  shore 
crying  piteously,  when  a  priest  (who  has  made  known  to 
me  the  incident)  seeing  me,  took  pity  upon  me,  and  no 
ticing  that  I  was  a  Hebrew  chilel  led  me  away,  pacifying 
me  by  saying  that  I  should  see  my  brother.  From  that 
time  I  have  been  an  inmate  of  the  temple ;  for  my  mother 
seeing  him  take  me  away  followed,  and  as  he  promised 
he  would  rear  me  as  his  own  son,  and  that  I  should  see 
her  weekly,  she  yielded  me  up  to  him  with  reluctant 
gladness ;  for,  my  lorel  prince,  in  that  elay  the  children 
of  Hebrew  parents  were  not  safe  even  at  home,  an  eelict 
having  been  published  commanding  all  male  infants  to 


ISRAEL    IN   BONDAGE.  339 

be  strangled  or  drowned.  Mothers  held  their  children  by 
a  slight  tenure,  and  seeing  that  the  protection  of  a  priest 
would  insure  my  safety,  and  spare  me  the  toils  to  which 
the  little  ones  of  our  nation  were  early  condemned,  rny 
parents  readily  acquiesced  in  the  wishes  of  the  priest.'1 

"Was  thy  infant  brother  lost?"  I  asked  with  interest. 

"  Yes,  without  doubt.  Like  hundreds  of  other  inno 
cents,  he  perished." 

"  Might  he  not  have  been  saved  by  some  one  as  com 
passionate  as  your  friendly  priest?" 

"Who  would  dare  to  save  a  child  from  the  king's 
edict  of  death?  Not  one,  unless  it  had  been  the  king's 
daughter!  All  his  subjects  trembled  at  his  power." 

"  I  have  heard  of  that  cruel  command  of  Pharaoh 
Amunophis,"  I  answered.  "  What  is  your  office  in  this 
noble  temple?"  I  asked,  surveying  the  majestic  edifice, 
before  which  stood  a  black  statue  of  Apis,  the  size  of 
life. 

"  My  office  is  not  that  of  a  priest,  though  it  is  pries'Jy. 
I  write  books  of  papyrus  for  the  dead.  I  cast  images,  in 
gold,  of  the  young  calf  Apis.  I  interpret  hieroglyphics, 
make  copies  of  the  tables  of  rituals,  and  keep  a  list  of  the 
sacred  scrolls.  I  also  study  foreign  tongues,  and  tran 
scribe  from  their  books  the  wisest  codes  and  most 
solemn  forms  of  worship." 

"  Yours  is  an  office  of  trust  and  honor,"  I  said. 

"  It  is,  through  the  favor  of  the  venerable  priest,  who 
is  my  benefactor,  and  to  whom  I  am  as  a  son,"  he  an 
swered.  "  If  you  will  now  enter  the  temple  with  me,  I 
will  show  you  the  casting-room  of  sacred  images;  for  my 
duty  is  there,  during  the  next  four  hours." 

I  thanked  the  courteous  Hebrew,  and  ascending  the 


3ttO  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

steps  of  the  portico,  entered  the  vestibule  of  the  temple. 
By  a  side  corridor,  we  reached  a  small  court  lined  with 
alabastron,  in  which  three  priests  were  pacing  up  and 
down,  reading  and  meditating. 

Not  being  noticed  at  all  by  them,  I  was  conducted  by 
the  stately  Hebrew  into  a  chamber,  which  was  tke  vesti 
bule  to  a  large  apartment,  whither  we  descended  by 
eight  steps,  that  led  to  a  large  brazen  door  with  two 
leaves.  This  was  secured ;  but  a  small  side  door  admit 
ted  us  into  a  vast  subterranean  room,  which  I  saw  w^as 
a  place  for  casting.  Numerous  workmen  were  busy 
about  heated  furnaces :  some  blowing  the  fire  beneath 
crucibles  for  melting  gold ;  some  weighing  gold  and  de 
livering  it  to  the  smiths  ;  and  others  washing  gold.  Some 
were  casting  small  images  of  Apis  in  moulds,  while  a 
superintendent  moved  up  and  down,  dressed  in  the  close 
robes  of  vesture  priests  wear,  when  not  performing  du 
ties  at  the  altar.  It  was  a  scene  of  busy  toil  and  constant 
activity. 

"This,"  said  my  guide,  "is  the  casting-chamber  of 
the  temple.  Each  of  us  has  his  departments.  It  is 
mine,  to  oversee  the  mixing  of  gold  with  the  proper 
alloy,  and  I  have  a  scribe  who  records  the  results. 
Here,  you  see,  is  a  life-size  image  of  Apis,  when  lie 
was  a  calf.  It  is  for  the  temple  at  Bubastis,  of  the 
Delta.  There  you  behold  a  mould  for  one  of  larger 
size,  ordered  for  the  shrine  at  Osymandyes." 

"  Do  you  never  cast  any  figures  of  the  size  of  Apis  ?" 
I  asked,  looking  about  me  in  amazement  at  this  extra 
ordinary  scene. 

"  Not  of  gold,"  he  answered,  conducting  me  through 
the  vast  room  in  which  fourscore  men  were  at  work 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  341 

u  Those  are  cast  of  bronze,  not  here,  but  at  a  temple 
near  the  pyramid  Dendara.  The  gods  of  this  temple 
are  in  great  repute  throughout  all  Egypt.  They  are 
consecrated  here  before  they  are  sent  away,  with  an 
cient  rites,  known  only  to  the  priesthood  of  this  shrine. 
Come  with  me  into  this  side  apartment." 

I  followed  him  through  a  passage  having  double-doors 
of  brass,  and  found  myself  in  a  room  full  of  vases,  each 
one  of  which  contained  a  quantity  of  jewelry,  consisting 
of  rings  for  the  fingers  and  thumb,  ear-rings,  bracelets, 
flower-holders  of  gold,  necklaces,  and  signets,  all  of 
gold. 

"  These  are  sent  here  from  various  temples  in  the  dif 
ferent  nomes,  out  of  which,  after  melting  them,  we  cast 
images  of  the  size  demanded." 

In  another  room  the  intelligent  Hebrew  exhibited  to 
me  a  great  number  of  small  figures  of  Apis,  of  gold  of 
Havilah,  which  is  remarkably  beautiful  from  its  deep 
orange-color.  These  figures,  though  not  a  palm  long, 
were  valued  at  a  talent.  On  all  these  images  of  the 
sacred  calf,  I  perceived  that  the  mark  of  the  crescent 
between  the  shoulders  was  distinctly  imitated,  as  well 
as  the  other  peculiarities.  Upon  the  head  of  some  of 
them  was  a  sun  enwreathed  by  the  sacred  urseus. 

"Does  your  temple  derive  a  revenue  from  all  this?" 
I  asked  the  Hebrew. 

"There  is  a  tithe  retained  from  all  the  gold  that  is 
sent  hither,  for  the  expenses  of  the  temple,"  he  an 
swered. 

"We  now  turned  aside  to  see  men  grinding  to  powder 
an  old  image  of  Apis,  of  solid  gold  of  Ophir.  The  im 
age  had  been  in  the  hands  of  the  Ethiopians,  and  being 


342  THE    PILLAR   OF    FIRE,    OR 

recaptured,  was  sent  here  to  be  ground  to  dust;  for  it 
was  regarded  as  accursed  until  tins  were  done.  This 

o 

process  is  effected  by  the  free  use  of  natron,  and  is  an 
art  known  only  to  the  Egyptians.  The  dust  is  then 
washed  in  consecrated  water.  In  taste,  I  am  told,  it  is 
exceeding  bitter  arid  nauseous.  Thus  gold,  as  a  drink, 
would  not  be  coveted  by  men. 

We  next  came  to  a  flight  of  stairs  which  led  to  a 
paved  hall  surrounded  by  columns,  and  thence  a  door 
led  into  a  small  garden,  where  three  majestic  palms 
towered  high  above  the  columns  that  inclosed  it ;  while 
a  fountain  ceaselessly  let  fall  its  refreshing  rain,  in  a 
vast  shallow  vase,  wherein  gold  and  silver  fishes  glanced 
in  the  light. 

It  was  now  near  the  close  of  day,  and  I  began  to 
thank  him  for  his  courtesy,  when  he  said — 

"  Do  not  leave  now,  O  prince.  This  is  my  apart 
ment,  and  the  one  opposite  is  that  of  the  aged  priest, 
my  benefactor.  Enter,  and  let  me  have  water  for  thy 
feet  and  hands,  and  place  before  thee  some  refresh 
ment  ;  for  it  is  a  long  walk  back  to  the  palace  where 
thou  art  sojourning." 

Willing  to  learn  all  I  could  of  the  remarkable  He 
brew  people,  wrho  seem  to  be  a  nation  of  princes  as 
well  as  of  bondmen,  I  accepted  his  invitation,  and  en 
tered  a  cool  porch,  from  which  opened  a  handsome  but 
Bimply  furnished  apartment,  where  he  lodged.  1  seated 
myself  upon  a  stone  bench,  when,  at  a  signal  made  by 
him,  two  black  slaves  approached  with  ewers  of  water, 
one  for  the  hands,  and  the  other  with  a  silver  basin  for 
rny  feet.  Each  of  them  had  thrown  over  his  shoulder  a 
napkin  of  the  finest  linen.  But  upon  the  vessels,  the 


ISRAEL    IN   BONDAGE.  343 

vestures,  the  slaves,  and  the  napkins,  I  saw  the  crescent, 
which  showed  that  they  were  all  the  property  of  the 
temple. 

At  length  fruit,  and  wh eaten  bread,  and  fish,  wereN 
laid  before  me.  The  Hebrew  stood  while  I  partook, 
declining  to  eat  with  me,  saying  that  his  nation  never 
broke  bread  with  any  but  their  own  people ;  adding, 
"  and  the  Egyptians  regard  it  as  infamy  to  sit  down 
with  us." 

"I  have  no  such  prejudices,"  I  said,  with  a  smile. 
When  I  had  eaten,  and  laved  my  fingers  in  a  crystal 
vase,  which  the  priest  placed  before  me,  arid  the  Nu 
bians  had  retired,  I  said,  "  My  meeting  with  you  has 
been  a  source  of  great  pleasure  to  me.  I  am  deeply 
interested  in  your  nation.  As  a  Syrian  we  are  not  far 
from  a  kindred  origin,  and  as  a  foreigner  I  have  none  of 
the  feelings  which,  as  masters,  the  Egyptians  entertain 
towards  a  Hebrew.  I  have  witnessed  the  working  of 
the  deep-seated  prejudice  in  a  variety  of  ways,  and  can 
not  but  wonder  at  it.  From  all  I  can  learn  of  your 
history,  you  have  never  been  at  war  with  them,  nor 
wronged  them." 

"  We  are  unfortunate,  unarmed,  and  weak ;  and  the 
greater  ever  oppress  the  helpless,"  he  answered. 

"  Do  you  feel  no  resentment  ?" 

"  The  bondage  of  one  hundred  and  seventy  years  has 
graven  the  lines  of  patience  deep  in  our  hearts.  For 
bearance  has  become  a  second  nature  to  the  Hebrew. 
But,  my  lord  prince,  I  feel  that  this  will  not  always  be," 
he  added.  "  The  time  cannot  be  far  off,  when  Egypt,  for 
her  own  safety,  will  give  us  our  liberty  and  the  privi 
leges  of  citizens.  We  are  not  a  race  of  bondmen,  like 


344  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

Nubia's  children.  We  were  once  free!  Our  fathers 
were  princes  in  Syria;  and  was  not  Joseph  the  ruler  of 
Egypt  for  sixty-one  years,  during  the  long  reign  of  Pha 
raoh- Apophis  ?  Not  long  after  the  Theban  dynasty, 
which  now  rules  the  two  Egypts,  assumed  the  double 
crown,  did  our  degradation  begin." 

"Doubtless  a  change  in  your  condition  must  ere  long 
take  place,"  I  said.  "There  must  be  leaders  among 
you.  Not  all  the  suffering  of  your  oppression  has  de 
stroyed  the  princely  air  among  many  of  your  people." 

"  But  not  one  Hebrew  is  trained  to  war,  or  knows  the 
use  of  any  sort  of  weapon.  For  three  generations,  we 
have  been  a  laboring,  patient,  unarmed  people.  If,  here 
and  there,  one  rises  above  the  masses,  it  is  by  accident 
or  favor,  or  from  interest  on  the  part  of  those  who  em 
ploy  us.  I  have  said  that  the  family  from  which  I 
spring  is  skilled  in  letters  and  art,  and  is  ambitious  of 
the  learning  of  the  Egyptians,  and  of  becoming  scribes 
and  copyists  to  the  priests.  Others  among  us,  of  the  sons 
of  Dan,  are  skilful  boatmen  ;  others  are  builders ;  while 
others  prefer  the  culture  of  the  field,  or  the  tending  of 
flocks.  We  were  twelve  princes — brethren — in  the  an 
cient  days,  and  the  descendants  of  each  are  remarkable 
for  some  special  skill ;  and  the  Egyptian  taskmasters 
having  discerned  this  aptitude,  distribute  them  to  their 
work  accordingly.  We  are  not  all  brick-makers,  though 
four  fifths  of  the  nation  are  reduced  to  that  degraded 
toil — all,  of  every  tribe  or  family,  who  are  not  skilful  in 
some  art,  being  driven  into  the  field.  Of  late  years,  the 
Egyptian  artificers  have  made  such  great  outcries,  to  the 
effect  that  the  Hebrews  were  filling  the  places  of  their 
own  workmen,  that  the  chief  governor  of  the  Hebrews 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  345 

in  Lower  Egypt  has,  in  order  to  preserve  peace,  sent 
thousands  into  the  brick-fieldg,  who  had  never  before 
encountered  such  heavy  toil.  The  result  is,  that  hun 
dreds  perish,  and  that  youths  like  Israel  sink  hourly 
under  their  unendurable  sufferings." 

"  Have  you  no  gods — no  ear  to  hear  your  prayers  ?" 
I  asked  impulsively,  as  I  am  apt  to  do,  dear  mother, 
when  my  feelings  are  deeply  moved.  "  Have  you  no 
worship  ?  I  hear  of  no  altar  or  temple." 

"  A  few  among  us  have  mysteries,  such  as  the  exist 
ence  of  One  God ;  that  He  is  a  spirit ;  that  all  men  are 
His  offspring ;  and  that  we  must  be  just  in  order  to  please 
Him.  But  I  must  confess,  O  prince,"  he  said,  sadly,  "  that 
we  have  very  little  knowledge,  even  the  best  among 
us,  of  the  God  in  whose  existence  we  profess  to  believe. 
i  It  is  easier  to  serve  and  trust  to  the  visible  gods  of  Egypt ; 
and  our  people,  from  the  depths  of  their  misery,  stretch 
forth  their  clay-soiled  hands  to  Osiris,  to  Pthah,  to  the 
images  of  Apis,  and  cry,  c  Deliver  us,  O  gods  of  Egypt, 
deliver  us  from  our  bondage  !'  They  have  cried  to  the 
invisible  God  of  Abraham  in  vain,  and  they  now  cry 
in  vain  to  the  gods  of  the  land,  also.  Neither  hear — 
neither  answer ;  and  they  sink  into  blank  despair,  with 
out  any  hope  left  in  a  god — a  nation  of  infidel  slaves !" 

"  Can  this  be  a  true  picture  ?"  I  said. 

"  Nearly  so.  Even  I,  O  prince,  under  the  ever-pres 
ent  power  of  the  religion  to  which  this  temple  is  up- 
reared, — I,  from  the  influence  of  example,  from  ignorance 
of  the  worship  of  the  Hebrew  God  of  Isaac,  from  the 
education  of  my  life,  am  half  an  Egyptian.  The  religion 
of  Egypt  appeals  to  the  senses,  and  these,  in  most  men,  ' 
are  far  stronger  than  the  imagination ;  and  we  Hebrews 


5n<$  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

know  nothing  of  a  God,  except  that  our  fathers  had  one, 
but  that  He  has  deserted  and  left  us,  their  miserable  de 
scendants,  under  the  yoke  of  oppressors.  Is  it  any  won 
der  that  the  wisest  of  us  turn  to  the  gods  of  Egypt  ?  If 
the  Egyptians  can  be  happy,  and  cherish  hope,  and  die 
in  peace  under  their  faith,  let  us  also  seek  its  shelter,  and 
let  their  gods  be  our  gods !  Such  is  the  prevailing  lan 
guage  and  growing  feeling  of  our  people." 

This  was  all  said  in  a  tone  of  sadness  and  bitterness ; 
while  that  despair  of  which  he  spoke,  cast  its  shadow 
heavily  over  his  noble  countenance.  I  arose  soon  after 
wards,  and  took  my  leave  of  him,  more  and  more  deeply 
interested,  dear  mother  in  the  history  and  condition  of 
this  singular  people. 

Your  affectionate  son, 

SESOST.RIS. 


ISRAEL   IX   BONDAGE.  347 


LETTER    XXI. 

PALACE  OF  AMENSE,  ISLAND  OF  KHODA. 

MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 

IT  is  with  emotions  I  am  unable  to  command,  that 
I  commence,  after  a  silence  of  several  weeks,  another 
letter  to  you.  I  know  not  how,  properly  to  unfold  and 
rightly  to  present  before  you  the  extraordinary  events 
which  have  transpired  since  I  last  wrote  to  you.  But  I 
will  endeavor  to  give  a  narrative  of  the  unparalleled 
circumstances,  in  the  order  of  their  occurrence  up  to  the 
present  time,  and  will  keep  you  advised  of  the  progress 
of  this  remarkable  and  mysterious  matter,  as  each  day 
it  develops  itself. 

I  believe,  in  one  of  my  letters  to  the  Princess  Tha- 
monda,  I  spoke  of  the  approaching  birthday  of  Reme- 
ses — his  thirty-fifth — and  that  the  queen  had  resolved,  on 
that  day,  to  confer  upon  him  the  crowns  of  Egypt,  and 
resigning,  with  the  sceptre,  all  dominion  into  his  hand^ 
retire  to  a  beautiful  palace,  which  she  has  recently  com 
pleted  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Libyan  hills,  west  of 
the  pyramids,  and  overlooking  a  charming  lake,  which, 
begun  by  former  rulers,  has  been  enlarged  and  beauti 
fied  by  each,  and  by  none  more  than  by  herself. 

This  purpose  of  the  queen  was  made  known  to  Reme- 
ses,  about  three  weeks  after  his  return  from  Thebes  with 


318  THE   PILLAE   OF   FIRE,    OR 

his  victorious  army.  I  was  not  present  at  the  interview  , 
but  will  repeat  to  you  the  conversation  that  passed,  as 
it  was  made  known  to  me  by  the  prince,  who  extends 
towards  me  all  the  confidence  of  one  beloved  brother  to 
another;  and,  indeed,  keeps  no  secrets  from  me.  This 
pleasing  confidence  is  fully  reciprocated  on  my  part,  and 
we  are  in  all  things  as  one. 

I  had  been,  that  morning,  on  a  visit  to  that  part  ot 
Memphis  which  stretches  away  westward  from  the  Nile 
in  a  succession  of  gardens,  squares,  palaces,  and  mon 
uments,  girdling  the  Lake  of  Amense  with  beautiful  vil 
las,  and  climbing  with  its  terraces,  grottoes,  shrines,  and 
marble  pavilions,  the  very  sides  of  the  cliffs  of  Libya, 
two  leagues  from  the  river  ;  for  to  the  extent  of  Mem 
phis  there  seems  to  be  no  limit  measurable  by  the  eye. 
Even  the  three  great  pyramids  are  almost  central  in  the 
mighty  embrace  of  the  sacred  city. 

Upon  landing  from  my  galley  upon  the  Island  of 
Rhoda,  my  Hebrew  page  Israel,  now  become  a  bright 
and  blooming  youth,  with  a  face  always  enriched  by  the 
light  of  gratitude,  met  me,  and  said : 

"The  prince,  my  lord,  desires  to  see  you  in  his  private 
chamber.  He  bade  me  ask  you  not  to  delay." 

I  found  Remeses  walking  to  and  fro  in  the  apart 
ment,  with  a  pale  face  and  troubled  brow.  As  soon  as 
I  entered,  he  approached  me,  and  taking  my  hand  be 
tween  his,  pressed  it  to  his  heart  affectionately,  and  said : 

"  I  am  glad  you  have  returned,  Sesostris,  my  friend 
and  brother !  Come  and  sit  by  me  on  this  seat  by  the 
window.  I  have  much  to  say— much!  I  need  your 
counsel." 

"My  noble  friend,"  I  answered,  moved  by  his  unusual 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  349 

emotion,  "I  am  not  able  to  counsel  one  so  wise  and 
great  as  you  are." 

y  "  Nay,  you  are  too  modest,  prince.  I  must  tell  you 
'all.  Strange  events  have  occurred.  Hear  me,  and  you 
will  then  be  able  to  strengthen  my  soul !  You  know 
that  of  late  my  dear  mother  has  been  given  to  melan 
choly  ;  that  she  has  appeared  absent  in  thought,  abrupt 
in  speech,  and  ill  at  ease.  Thou  hast  observed  this ;  for 
we  have  spoken  of  it  together,  and  marvelled  at  her 
mood,  which  neither  the  memory  of  our  victories  in  Ethi 
opia,  the  prosperity  of  her  kingdom,  the  peace  in  her 
borders,  the  love  of  her  subjects,  nor  my  own  devotion 
could  remove  ;  nor  the  music  of  the  harp,  nor  the  happy 
songs  of  the  chanters  dissipate." 

"Do  you  not  think,"  I  said,  "that  this  state  of  mind 
is  connected  with  her  illness  before  you  left,  when  the 
viceroy  Moeris  dined  with  us  ?" 

Remeses  started,  and  fixed  upon  me  his  full  gaze. 

"  Sesostris,  what  led  you  to  connect  the  present  with 
that  event  ?" 

"  Because  the  queen  has  never  been  wholly  well  and 
cheerful  since  that  day." 
(""  What  think  you  of  Prince%  Moeris  ?     Speak  freely." 

"  He  is  a  proud,  ambitious,  'and  unprincipled  man." 

"  Do  you  think  he  loves  me  ?" 

"  I  fear  not," 

"  You  are  right.  But  you  shall  hear  what  I  have  to  re 
late.  Three  hours  since  my  mother  sent  for  me.  I  found 
her  in  the  chapel  where  the  shrine  of  Osiris  receives  her 
most  private  prayers.  She  was  kneeling  when  I  entered, 
her  face  towards  the  god  ;  but  her  eyes,  wet  with  tears, 
penetrated  the  heavens,  and  seemed  to  seek  a  living 


348 


his  victorious  army.  I  was  not  present  at  the  interview  , 
but  will  repeat  to  you  the  conversation  that  passed,  as 
it  was  made  known  to  me  by  the  prince,  who  extends 
towards  me  all  the  confidence  of  one  beloved  brother  to 
another;  and,  indeed,  keeps  no  secrets  from  me.  This 
pleasing  confidence  is  fully  reciprocated  on  my  part,  and 
we  are  in  all  things  as  one. 

I  had  been,  that  morning,  on  a  visit  to  that  part  ot 
Memphis  which  stretches  away  westward  from  the  Nile 
in  a  succession  of  gardens,  squares,  palaces,  and  mon 
uments,  girdling  the  Lake  of  Amense  with  beautiful  vil 
las,  and  climbing  with  its  terraces,  grottoes,  shrines,  and 
marble  pavilions,  the  very  sides  of  the  cliffs  of  Libya, 
two  leagues  from  the  river ;  for  to  the  extent  of  Mem 
phis  there  seems  to  be  no  limit  measurable  by  the  eye. 
Even  the  three  great  pyramids  are  almost  central  in  the 
mighty  embrace  of  the  sacred  city. 

Upon  landing  from  my  galley  upon  the  Island  of 
Khoda,  my  Hebrew  page  Israel,  now  become  a  bright 
and  blooming  youth,  with  a  face  always  enriched  by  the 
light  of  gratitude,  met  me,  and  said  : 

"  The  prince,  my  lord,  desires  to  see  you  in  his  private 
chamber.  He  bade  me  ask  you  not  to  delay." 

I  found  Remeses  walking  to  and  fro  in  the  apart 
ment,  with  a  pale  face  and  troubled  brow.  As  soon  as 
I  entered,  he  approached  me,  and  taking  my  hand  be 
tween  his,  pressed  it  to  his  heart  affectionately,  and  said : 

"  I  am  glad  you  have  returned,  Sesostris,  my  friend 
and  brother !  Come  and  sit  by  me  on  this  seat  by  the 
window.  I  have  much  to  say— much!  I  need  your 
counsel." 

"My  noble  friend,"  I  answered,  moved  by  his  unusual 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  349 

emotion,  "I  am  not  able  to   counsel  one  so  wise  and 
great  as  you  are." 

y  "  Nay,  you  are  too  modest,  prince.  I  must  tell  you 
'all.  Strange  events  have  occurred.  Hear  me,  and  you 
will  then  be  able  to  strengthen  my  soul !  You  know 
that  of  late  my  dear  mother  has  been  given  to  melan 
choly  ;  that  she  has  appeared  absent  in  thought,  abrupt 
in  speech,  and  ill  at  ease.  Thou  hast  observed  this ;  for 
we  have  spoken  of  it  together,  and  marvelled  at  her 
mood,  which  n  either  the  memory  of  our  victories  in  Ethi 
opia,  the  prosperity  of  her  kingdom,  the  peace  in  her 
borders,  the  love  of  her  subjects,  nor  my  own  devotion 
could  remove  ;  nor  the  music  of  the  harp,  nor  the  happy 
songs  of  the  chanters  dissipate." 

"Do  you  not  think,"  I  said,  "that  this  state  of  mind 
is  connected  with  her  illness  before  you  left,  when  the 
viceroy  Moeris  dined  with  us  ?" 

Hemeses  started,  and  fixed  upon  me  his  full  gaze. 

"  Sesostris,  what  led  you  to  connect  the  present  with 
that  event  ?" 

"  Because  the  queen  has  never  been  wholly  well  and 
cheerful  since  that  day." 
("  What  think  you  of  Prince%  Moeris  ?     Speak  freely." 

"  He  is  a  proud,  ambitious,  'and  unprincipled  man." 

"Do  you  think  he  loves  me ?" 

"  I  fear  not." 

"  You  are  right.  But  you  shall  hear  what  I  have  to  re 
late.  Three  hours  since  my  mother  sent  for  me.  I  found 
her  in  the  chapel  where  the  shrine  of  Osiris  receives  her 
most  private  prayers.  She  was  kneeling  when  I  entered, 
her  face  towards  the  god ;  but  her  eyes,  wet  with  tears, 
penetrated  the  heavens,  and  seemed  to  seek  a  living 


350  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

Power  that  could  hear  and  answer  prayer,  Sesostris, 
She  did  not  see  me,  and  her  voice  was  audible  : 

"  '  Protect  him  !  Guard  him  from  his  foe  !  Spare  me 
the  discoveiy  of  the  secret,  and  place  him  upon  the 
throne  of  Egypt,  O  immortal  and  pitying  Osiris  !  O 
Isis,  hear !  O  goddess  of  the  sacred  bow,  and  mother  of 
Horus,  hear!  Give  me  strength  to  act,  and  wisdom  in 
this  my  great  perplexity  !' 

"  I  drew  near,  and  kneeling  by  my  mother's  side,  laid 
her  head  against  my  heart,  and  said — 

'"The  God  of  all  gods,  the  Father  Infinite  hear  thee, 
O  mother !  What  is  it  thou  prayest  for  with  such  strong 
woe  and  fear  ?' 

"  '  Hast  thou  heard  me  ?'  she  exclaimed,  rising  and 
speaking  wildly.  '  What  didst  thou  hear  ?  Nay,  I  have 
betrayed  no  secret  ?' 

"  i  None,  mother,  none  !  Thon  didst  only  speak  of 
one  which  distressed  thee,'  I  said  soothingly  ;  for,  my 
dear  Sesostris,  I  was  inexpressibly  moved  by  her  agitated 
manner,  unlike  any  thing  I  have  ever  before  witnessed 
in  her  usually  calm,  serene,  and  majestic  demeanor. 

"She  leaned  heavily  upon  me,  and  I  led  her  to  an 
alcove  in  which  was  the  s,hrine  of  Athor. 

"  '  Sit  clown,  Remeses— my  son  Remeses,'  she  repeat 
ed,  with  a  singular  emphasis  upon  the  words  '  my  son.' 
'  Hear  what  I  wish  to  reveal  to  thee !  I  am  now  more 
composed.  There  is  in  my  heart  a  great  and  ceaseless 
anxiety.  Do  not  ask  me  what  it  is !  The  secret,  I  trust, 
will  remain  sealed  forever  from  thy  ears !  Ask  not — • 
seek  not  to  know  it.  Yon  may  as  successfully  obtain 
an  answer  from  the  heart  of  the  great  pyramid,  reveal 
ing  what  is  buried  there  from  human  eyes,  as  obtain  an 


ISEAEL  IN  BONDAGE.  351 

answer  from  me  of  the  mystery  lying  at  my  heart.  It 
"will  be  embalmed  with  me,  and  go  with  me  to  the  lower 
world!' 

"  '  Mother,'  I  said,  alarmed  at  her  depressed  manner, 
4  thou  art  ill — let  me  send  for  thy  physician — 

"  '  Nay,  nay — I  am  not  ill !  I  shall  be  better  soon  ! 
You,  Remeses,  have  the  key  to  my  happiness  and 
health,5  she  said  tenderly,  yet  seriously. 

"  '  Then  I  will  yield  it  up  to  thee  !'  I  answered  pleas 
antly. 

" '  Hear  my  words,  my  son,  for  art  thou  not  my  son. 
my  noble  Remeses  ?'  she  asked,  taking  both  my  hands 
and  holding  them  to  her  heart,  and  then  pressing  her 
lips  upon  them  almost  passionately ;  for  I  felt  tears  flow 
upon  my  hands. 

j(  "  '  Thy  son,  with  undying  love,  my  mother,'  I  an 
swered,  wondering  in  my  heart,  and  deeply  affected. 
She  remained  a  few  moments  silent,  and  at  length  said — 

"  c  Remeses,  hast  thou  ever  doubted  my  love  ?' 

"  '  Never,  no  never,  my  mother  !'  I  replied,  moved* 

"  '  Have  I  not  been  a  true  and  fond  mother  to  thee  ?' 

" '  Why  distress  yourself,  dear  mother,  with  such 
'useless  interrogatories?'  I  asked.  No  longer  agitated, 
and  her  nervous  air  having  quite  disappeared,  she  spoke 
calmly  but  earnestly : 

"  '  Have  I  neglected,  in  any  way,  a  mother's  duty  to 
thee,  O  Remeses?' 

"  '  Thou  hast  ever  been  all  that  a  mother  could  be,'  I 
answered  her. 

"  '  Do  you  think  a  mother  could  love  a  son  more  than 
T  love  thee  ?'  she  repeated. 

fl  i  No,  O  my  mother  F 


352  THE  PILLAR  OF  FIRE,  OR 


"  '  And  tfioUj  Remeses,  dost  thou  love  me  V  she  con 
tinued,  with  the  same  fixed,  solemn,  and  painful  earnest 
ness. 

"  '  Why  shouldst  thou  doubt?'  I  asked. 

"  i  I  have  no  reason  to  doubt,'  she  replied  ;  '  yet  I 
would  hear  thee  say,  '  Mother,  I  love  thee  above  all 
things  beneath  the  sun  !' 

"  I  smiled,  and  repeated  the  words,  distressed  to  per 
ceive  that  something  had  taken  hold  upon  her  noble  and 
strong  mind,  and  was  shaking  it  to  its  centre. 

"  '  Remeses,  my  son,'  she  said,  answering  my  smile, 
and  then  immediately  assuming  an  expression  of  singular 
majesty,  CI  am  now  advancing  in  life.  I  have  passed 
my  fifty-first  year,  and  am  weary  of  the  sceptre.  I 
wish  to  see  you  king  of  Egypt  while  I  live.  I  wish  to 
see  the  grandeur  and  wisdom  of  your  reign,  and  to  re 
joice  in  your  power  and  glory.  When  I  am  laid  in  the 
sarcophagus,  which  I  have  caused  to  be  hewn  out  in  the 
chamber  beneath  the  pyramidion  of  my  obelisk,  I  shall 
know  and  behold  nothing  of  thy  dominion.  It  is  my 
desire,  therefore,  to  invest  you  with  the  sovereignty  of 
Egypt  ;  and  after  I  see  you  crowned,  robed,  and  sceptred 
as  her  king,  I  will  retire  to  my  Libyan  palace  and 
there  contemplate  thy  greatness,  and  reign  again  in 
thee  !' 

"  I  rose  to  my  feet  in  surprise,  dear  Sesostris,  at  this 
announcement  from  the  lips  of  rny  mother,  but  listened 
with  deference  until  she  had  concluded,  and  I  then 
said,  — 

"  '  This  intent  and  purpose  be  far  from  thee,  O  my 
mother  and  queen  !  Thou  art  in  the  meridian  of  life, 
and  still  in  the  possession  of  thy  wonderful  beauty 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  353 

Scarcely  a  silver  thread  has  stolen  amid  thy  soft,  dark 
hair  ;  tliou  art  yet  young ;  and  may  the  Lord  of  the 
kings  of  the  earth  long  preserve  thee  upon  thy  throne, 
and  lend  thee  strength  and  wisdom  to  wield  thy  sceptre. 
Far  be  it  from  me,  therefore,  my  mother,  to  accept  the 
crown,  until  Osiris  himself  transfers  it  from  thy  majestic 
brow  to  mine !' 

"  *  Nay,  Remeses,'  she  said  firmly,  yet  sadly, i  my  will 
is  the  law  of  Egypt.  Thou  hast  never  opposed  it.' 

"  '  But  this  is  where  my  owrn  elevation  involves  your 
depression,'  I  answered.  c  It  cannot  he  !' 

'"I  am  firm  and  immovable,  my  son,  in  my  purpose,' 
she  replied.  '  Your  thirty-fifth  birthday  will  soon  ar 
rive.  That  is  the  age  at  which  Horus,  the  son  of  Isis, 
was  crowned.  It  is  a  number  of  good  omen,  and  I  wish 
you  to  prepare  for  your  coronation,  by  performing  all 
the  rites  and  sacrifices,  that  the  religion  and  laws  of 
Egypt  require  of  a  prince  who  is  about  to  ascend  the 
throne  of  the  Pharaohs.' 

"  '  Mother,  my  dearly  honored  mother !'  I  said,  kneel 
ing  to  her,  c  forgive  me,  but  I  must  firmly  decline  the 
L,  throne  while  you  sit  thereon.  You  are  ill  at  ease  in 
your  mind  to-day.  Some  deep  grief,  which  you  conceal 
from  me,  preys  upon  you/  It  is  not  because  you  are 
old  that  you  would  abdicate  the  throne  to  me,  who  am 
not  yet  old  or  wise  enough  to  rule  this  mighty  nation ; 
but  you  have  some  secret,  painful  reason,  which  I  beg 
you  to  reveal  to  me.' 

"  My  words  seemed  to  inflict  pain  upon  her.  She 
rose  to  her  feet,  and  paced  the  apartment  twice  across  in 
troubled  reflection.  Then  she  came  to  my  side,  and  said 
impressively,  placing  her  trembling  grasp  upon  my  arm : 


354  THE    PILLAR   OF    FIRE,    OR 

u  '  Remeses,  if  I  reveal  to  thee  the  secret  of  my  heart, 
wilt  thou  then  consent  to  be  king?' 

"  '  If  I  perceive,  my  mother,'  I  answered,  c  that  neces 
sity  demands  my  acceptance  of  the  crown  before  my 
time,  I  will  not  refuse  it.' 

" '  If  your  views  of  necessity  do  not  influence  you,  O 
my  sou,'  she  said  earnestly,  and  with  a  sudden  gush  of 
tears,  c  let  my  affection,  my  happiness,  my  peace  of 
mind,  plead  with  you !' 

" '  Please,  my  beloved  mother,  to  make  known  to  mo 
the  circumstances  under  which  you  are  moved  to  this 
unusual  step,'  I  said. 

"  '  Not  unusual,'  she  replied.  '  I  have  consulted  tho 
book  of  the  reigns  of  the  Pharaohs,  in  the  hall  of  Books, 
in  the  temple  of  Tliotli.  Within  two  thousand  years, 
not  less  than  seven  kings  and  three  queens  have  resigned 
the  sceptre  of  Egypt  to  children  or  adopted  heirs.  The 
Queen  ISTitocris  resigned  to  her  adopted  son,  Myrtceus  ; 
Cliomsephtha,  after  reigning  eleven  years,  weary  with 
the  weight  of  the  crown,  resigned  it  to  her  nephew, 
Sceconiosochus.  Did  not  Phruron-Kilus,  the  great  mon 
arch,  decide  to  abdicate  in  favor  of  Amuthantoeus,  his 
son,  when  sudden  death  only  prevented  his  retirement  ? 
The  crowns  of  Egypt  are  mine,  my  son,  by  the  laws  of 
the  gods,  and  of  the  ancestral  kings  from  whom  I  have 
inherited  them.  I  will  not  wait  for  the  god  of  death  to 
remove  them  from  my  head ;  but  with  my  own  hands  1 
would  put  them  upon  thy  brow !  It  must  be  done  soon, 
— now!  or  neither  thou  nor  I  will  hold  rule  long  in 
Egypt!' 

"  I  begged  my  mother  to  explain  her  mysterious 
words. 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  355 

"  '  Come,  sit  by  me.  Be  calm,  "Remeses  !  Listen  with 
your  usual  meekness  and  reverence  to  me  wlien  I  speak.' 
I  obeyed  her,  and  she  thus  began  : 

"  i  Thou  knowest  thy  cousin  Moeris  ; — his  lofty  ambi 
tion  ;  his  impatience  ;  his  spirit  of  pride ;  his  lust  for  do 
minion,  which  his  viceroy  ship  in  the  Theba'id  has  only 
given  him  an  unlimited  thirst  for ;: — his  jealousy  and  ha 
tred  of  you,  Remeses !  None  of  these  tilings  are  con 
cealed  from  you,  my  son.'  My  mother  paused  as  if  for 
my  assent,  which  I  signified  by  a  respectful  bow.  She 
continued : 

" '  This  Prince  Moeris,  for  whom  I  have  done  all  in 
my  power — whom  I  have  made  second  only  to  me  in 
*  the  Theba'id,  I  have  reason  to  know  seeks  your  ruin  and 
my  throne  !' 

"  '  What  proof  hast  thou  of  this  ?'  I  cried,  deeply  moved. 

"  '  Remeses,'  said  my  mother,  in  ringing  tones,  'I  must 
unfold  to  thee  all !     I  know  how  slow  thou  art  to  suspect 
or  believe  evil  of  any  one ;  and  that  you  fancy  Moeris 
an  honorable  prince,  overlooking  his  jealousy  of  you 
You  have  confidence  in  my  judgment  and  truth?' 

"  '  I  have,  the  most  undoubted  and  deferential,'  I  an 
swered  the  queen. 

" '  Then,  my  son,  hear  me-!'  she  said,  with  a  face  as 
pale  as  the  fine  linen  of  her  vesture.  '  Prince  Moeris  pos 
sesses  a  secret  (ask  me  not  what  it  is)  which  gives  him  a 
dangerous  power  over  me.  He  obtained  possession  of 
it  years  ago,  how  I  know  not;  but  it  has  placed  in  his 
hands  a  power  that  I  tremble  beneath.  Nay,  ask  not ! 
My  heart  itself  would  as  soon  open  to  thine  eyes, 
under  the  shield  of  my  bosom,  as  reveal  its  secret !  It 
will  die  with  me  !  Yet  Moeris,  my  nephew — a  man  of 


350  THE    PILLAR    OF   FIRE,    OR 

talents  and  ambition,  in  morals  most  unprincipled,  and 
in  disposition  cruel  and  unjust — holds  my  happiness  in 
his  hand !' 

"  '  My  mother,'  I  cried,  '  why  then  didst  thou  confer 
on  him  the  principality  of  the  Thebaid  and  its  enormous 
military  power?' 

" '  To  bribe  him,  when  he  menaced  me  with  the  be 
trayal  of  what  he  knew !'  was  the  queen's  almost  fierce 
rejoinder. 

" i  But  why  make  him  the  admiral  of  your  fleet  of 
the  Nile  ?' 

"  '  Another  bribe  when  he  renewed  Iris  threats  to  in 
form  you — ' 

"  '  Me  !'  I  exclaimed. 

"  '  Did  I  say  you  ?  ~No  !  no  !'  she  cried,  checking  her 
self;  'when  he  menaced  me  with  the  betrayal  of  the 
dreadful  secret.' 

"  i  And,  my  dear  mother,  who  was  interested  to  know 
it,  whom  would  it  benefit  or  injure?'  I  asked,  lost  in 
amazement. 

"  '  Injure  one  whom — whom  I  love — destroy  my  hap 
piness  and  hopes — benefit  Moeris  himself !'  she  answered, 
coloring  with  deepest  confusion  and  alarm. 

"'Why  not  crush  such  a  dangerous  subject  when 
he  menaces  your  peace  ?'  I  demanded,  my  wlic-le 
spirit  roused  for  my  mother,  and  my  indignation  ex 
cited  against  this  wicked  man.  'If  thy  happiness  is 
thus  menaced,  O  my  mother,  if  this  prince  is  the  cause 
of  all  your  sorrow,  say  the  word,  and  in  thirty  days 
hence,  he  shall  be  brought  bound  in  chains  to  your 
feet.' 

JV  TSTay,  Kemcses,  I  dare  not.    One  word  from  his  lips, 
/** 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  357 

he  were  in  chains,  would  reveal  all  it  has  been 

/ 

the  study  of  my  life  to  conceal,  and  give  him  all  the 
revenge  his  bitter  spirit  would  ask.  !N"o,  no !  Mceris 
must  not  be  made  angry.  It  is  only  his  ambitious 
hopes  that  keep  him  quiet.' 

" '  What  are  these  hopes  ?'  I  inquired,  feeling  that 
henceforth  Mceris  and  I  were  mortal  foes. 

"  Didst  thou,  O  prince,"  said  I,  as  he  returned  to  his 
seat  by  me,  which  he  had  left,  in  the  excitement  of  his 
narrative,  to  pace  the  floor,  "  suspect  the  secret  ?" 

"  No,"  he  answered  gloomily  ;  "  no,  Sesostris ;  nor  do 
I  now  know  what  it  can  be ;  neither  have  I  the  least 
idea,  unless — "  Here  he  colored,  and  looked  con 
fused. 

"  Unless  what  ?"  I  asked,  painfully  interested. 

"  Unless  Moaris  be  the  son  of  the  Prince  of  the  The- 
baid,  and  I  the  son  of  the  brother  of  Pharaoh.  In  other 
words,  that  Moeris  and  Remeses  have  changed  places, 
and  that  Moeris  knows  or  suspects  the  fact." 

"  A  most  extraordinary  idea !"  I  exclaimed ;  yet  at  the 
same  time,  I  must  confess  that  I  was  forcibly  reminded 
of  what  I  have  before  alluded  to,  dear  mother,  the  total 
absence  of  all  likeness  between  Rerneses  and  his  mother, 
Amense. 

"  What  can  possibly  have  suggested  to  your  mind 
such  a  strange  conjecture?"  I  added. 

"  A  mystery,  my  dear  Sesostris,"  he  said,  "  calls  into 
exercise  the  whole  machinery  of  suspicion,  and  all  the 
talent  of  investigation  ;  and  a  hundred  things,  which 
before  had  only  an  ordinary  signification,  under  its 
wand,  take  an  importance  and  meaning  wholly  new. 
Irresistibly,  my  mother's  anxiety  to  impress  upon  me  that 


358  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,   OR 

she  had  been  ''all  a  mother  could  be  to  a  son,'  in  con 
nection  with  her  whole  manner,  and  especially  her  un 
called  for  reiterations  of  affection  for  me,  and  of  appeals 
to  my  devotion  to  her ; — all  this  rushed  upon  my  mem 
ory,  and  with  a  dizzy  brain,  and  a  heart  full  of  anguish, 
under  the  dreadful  suspicion,  I  cried,  '  Why  must  not 
Prince  Moeris  be  made  angry  ?  "Why  may  he  not  be 
prevented  from  doing  thee  harm  ?' 

"  '  I  have  told  you,'  she  replied,  with  a  deadly  pallor. 
£  Remeses,  your  roused  spirit  alarms  me  for  us  three.' 

"  '  But  I  must  oppose,  and  if  necessary  destroy  him,' 
J  said,  in  my  emotion,  'who  destroys  my  mother's 
peace.' 

"  '  Yes,  I  am  thy  mother.  Thou  art  a  son  to  me.  I 
know  tliou  wilt  protect  me  from  this  prince-nephew,' 
she  said,  in  broken  sentences.  '  He  shall  not  come  be 
tween  me  and  thee,  and  the  throne.' 

"  '  He  has  no  claim  to  the  throne.  He  does  not  aspire 
to  it  in  your  lifetime,'  I  said  ;  '  and  if  I  hold  it  after,  I 
will  take  care  of  my  own  crown.  My  mother,  fear  not 
x  Prince  Mceris.  Let  his  secret  perish  with  him.' 

"  'And  thou,  also,  Remeses !'  she  said,  passionately. 

"  '  I,  my  mother  ?'  I  repeated.  A  spirit  of  severe  in 
vestigation  then  came  upon  me,  strengthened  by  my 
suspicion. 

"  '  My  mother,  Queen  Amense,'  I  said,  with  the  deep 
est  emotion,  and,  O  Sesostris,  with  fear  and  dread,  '  a 
fearful  suspicion  has  taken  hold  upon  me  !  Am  I  thy 
SON?' 

"  No  sooner  had  I  given  utterance  to  this  interrogative 
doubt,  which  was  wrung  from  my  tortured  heart,  than 
shrieking  aloud,  she  fell  forward,  and  but  for  my  inter- 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  359 

veiling  arm,  her  form  would  have  been  prostrate  at  my 
feet.  I  caught  her  in  my  arms ;  I  kissed  her  marble 
brow ;  I  chafed  her  cold  pulses  ;  and  breathed  words  of 
comfort,  words  praying  her  forgiveness,  into  her  ears. 
At  length  she  revived,  as  I  supported  her  against  my 
wildly  beating  heart ;  and,  with  stony  eyes  staring  me 
in  the  face,  gasped— 

"'Remeses!    "Who  hath — who — who  hath  said  this  ?' 

"  '  IvTo  one,  no  one,  my  dearly  loved  mother,'  I  answer 
ed,  tenderly.  And  when  I  saw  that  she  was  more  com 
posed,  I  said,  'It  was  only  a  conjecture — a  wild  sus 
picion — for  I  could  not  comprehend  the  mystery  between 
you  and  my  cousin  Moeris,  except  that  (as  has  been  done 
in  former  dynasties)  he  and  I  are  in  each  other's  places. 
Is  Moeris  thy  son,  and  am  I  the  son  of  the  brother  ot 
Amunophis  ?' 

"  I  had  no  sooner  said  this,  than  she  raised  her  head 
from  the  gold-embroidered  purple  cushion  of  the  ivory 
couch,  on  which  she  lay  reclining  against  my  arm,  and 
with  a  strange  laugh  of  joy  and  surprise,  said, — 

"  '  So  this  is  all,  Remeses !  Then  thou  needest  not 
fear.  Moeris  is  not  my  son.  He  is  nothing  to  me  but 
my  kinsman.  Canst  thou  believe  that  that  wicked 
prince  is  my  offspring  ?  I  forgive  thee,  Remeses,  be 
cause,  perhaps,  my  words,  and  the  necessity  of  guarding 
my  secret,  may  have  forced  thee  to  this  conclusion.' 
This  she  spoke  with  a  mind  evidently  greatly  relieved. 

"  '  Then,  dear  mother,  I  am  thy  son  in  spite  of  Prince 
Moeris  ?' 

"'In  spite  of  Moeris,'  she  answered.  'Hast  thou  ever 
known  any  other  mother  ?  Remeses,  let  thy  heart  be 
at  peace  !  Moeris  is  not  my  son !  On  that  he  does  not 


360  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

found  his  hopes  to  grasp  the  reins  of  Egypt.  ISTow  hear 
me,  my  son,'  she  said,  solemnly.  'That  prince  once 
sought  my  life.  When  I  was  taken  ill  on  the  day  that 
he  dined  with  me,  he  had  bribed  my  cup-bearer  to  drop 
a  subtle  poison  in  my  cup.  Dread  of  the  prince  forced 
him,  under  his  eyes,  to  do  it ;  but,  as  the  cup-bearer 
handed  me  the  wine,  he  pressed  my  little  finger,  where 
it  clasped  the  cup,  so  significantly,  that  I  looked  in  his 
eyes,  and  saw  them  full  of  warning.  I  did  not  drink, 
but  pleaded  illness,  and  left  the  banquet-room.  I  sent 
for  the  cup-bearer,  and  he  confessed  what  he  had  done. 
"When  I  heard  his  confession,  and  was  thereby  acquaint 
ed  with  the  purpose  of  Prince  Moeris  against  my  life,  I 
was  overwhelmed  with  despair.  My  future  safety  lay 
in  sending  for  him  the  next  day.  He  came.  It  was  a 
brief  but  dreadful  interview.  He  acknowledged  that 
he  sought  my  life,  because  I  had  the  day  before  refused 
him  the  crown  of  Upper  Egypt,  declining  to  give  him 
the  half  of  my  empire.  He  threatened  to  betray  my 
secret,  and  I  pleaded  for  silence.  He  demanded  the 
white  crown  of  the  Thebai'd  as  his  reward,  but  I  put 
him  off  with  evasions.  He  had  command  of  the  fleet, 
and  I  dared  not  anger  him.  I  shrunk  from  making 
known  to  you  his  demand,  and  the  terror  with  which  lie 
inspired  me.  I  promised  that  if  he  entered  the  Ethio 
pian  capital  within  six  months,  he  should  reign  in 
Thebes.' 

"  '  My  mother,'  I  cried,  '  gave  you  such  a  promise  to 
him  ?  He  is  already  marshalling  his  forces  !' 

"  '  And  in  order  not  so  much  to  conquer  Ethiopia,  as 
to  usurp  one  of  the  thrones  of  Egypt,'  she  answered. 

"  '  And  are  you  bound  by  this  promise  to  him  ?'  I  de- 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  361 

manded,  overwhelmed  with  amazement,  both  at  the 
audacity  of  Moeris,  and  the  power  he  held  over  my 
mother  by  means  of  this  secret. 

"  '  By  all  the  vows  that  a  mortal  can  make  to  the  gods ! 
Here,  in  this  sacred  chapel,  before  these  shrines,  he 
made  me  swear  that  in  consideration  he  subdued  the 
central  capital  of  Ethiopia,  and  preserved  my  secret,  I 
would  transfer  from  my  head  to  his  the  white-gold 
crown  of  Upper  Egypt,  the  most  ancient  kingdom  mor 
tal  ever  ruled  over  on  earth,  after  the  demigods.' 

"  When,  my  dear  Sesostris,"  said  Remeses,  after  hav 
ing  related  to  me,  with  a  dark  countenance,  the  fore 
going  conversation,  "  I  heard  this,  I  was  for  some  time 
confounded,  and  could  not  speak.  At  length  I  cried 
out — 

"  '  That  mystery — that  secret,  known  only  to  you  and 
Moeris,  and  for  the  safe-keeping  of  which  you  part  with 
one  of  your  crowns,  what  is  it !  divulge  it !  Am  I  not 
worthy,  O  my  mother,  of  the  confidence  which  Prince 
Moeris,  by  foul  means,  shares  with  you  ?  Will  you  not 
intrust  me  with  the  secret  which  he  can  extort  by 
bribery  ?' 

"The  queen  looked  deadly  pale,  and  her  whole  frame 
trembled.  She  essayed  to  reply,  and  then  said,  with  an 
effort,  as  if  a  corpse  had  become  vocal — 

"  '  Remeses — you  must — must  not  know  it !  Do  not 
ask — do  not  suspect  evil.  Do  not  doubt  me,  or  you  will 
kill  me !  Kiss  me,  Remeses !  Kiss  me,  my  son !  Are 
you  not  my  son  ?  I  love  you,  and  know  you  love  me. 
Let  all  else  pass  by.  You  shall  be  king !  You  shall 
wear  the  double  tiara  !  You  shall  grasp  both  sceptres ! 
Therefore  is  it,  I  would  now  make  you  king.  Dost  thou 

16 


362  THE    PILLAR   OF    FIRE,    OR 

understand  me?  Moeris  must  not  march  into  Ethiopia 
That  evil  man  must  have  a  master.  My  power  is  failing  ! 
1  would  surrender  it  to  thee.  The  only  safety  of  Egypt, 
the  only  security  for  thy  crown  and  dominion,  is  in 
taking  the  throne,  and  ruling  all  Egypt  in  thine  own 
right.' 

" '  Is  this  so,  my  mother?'  I  demanded.  'Does  Prince 
Moeris  not  only  torture  thy  soul  with  a  secret,  which,  as 
a  just  prince,  he  ought  forever  to  forget,  if  thou  desirest 
It,  but  does  he  also  aspire  to  sever  Egypt,  and  rule  in 
the  Thebaid,  on  the  ancient  throne  of  my  ancestors,  as 
the  price  of  a  secret  held  over  thee  with  an  unmanly 
advantage?' 

"  '  lie  does,  my  son,'  she  answered.  'The  only  safety 
of  the  empire  depends  on  my  resignation  of  the  crowns 
into  your  hands.  Once  Pharaoh,  you  have  Moeris  at 
your  feet,  and  if  he  prate  his  secret,  you  will  then  be 
able  to  despise  it,  and  put  to  silence  his  tongue.' 

"  '  Mother,  my  dear  mother,'  I  answered,  after  long- 
reflection,  '  what  you  have  told  me  has  brought  me  to 
a  decision.  I  shall  act  blindly — not  knowing  the  nature 
of  the  power  of  the  prince  over  you ;  but  I  shall  act 
from  affection  and  sympathy  for  you,  in  obedience  to 
your  wishes,  and  for  the  preservation  of  the  integrity  of 
the  united  kingdom.  I  am  ready  to  obey  you.  In  or 
der  to  defeat  Prince  Moeris,  and  relieve  your  mind,  I 
will  accept  the  sceptre  which  you  are  desirous  of  plac 
ing  in  my  feeble  and  inexperienced  hand.  I  am  ready 
to  enter  upon  the  sacred  rites  of  initiation,  and  in  all  things 
will  be  your  dutiful  and  obedient  son.  The  wicked 
ness  and  ambition  of  Moeris  must  be  crushed.' 

"  When  I  had  thus  said,  my  mother,  with  a  cry  of  joy 


ISRAEL    IN   BONDAGE.  363 

cast  herself  into  my  arms.  I  bore  her,  almost  fainting 
with  happiness  realized,  to  the  apartments  of  her  women, 
and  again  assuring  her  of  my  full  compliance  with  her 
wishes,  I  took  tender  leave  of  her,  and  hastened  to  my 
room  to  reflect  upon  all  that  had  passed  in  that  extraor 
dinary  interview  ;  and  then  I  sought  you." 

Thus  the  Prince  Remeses  ended  his  interesting  and 
singular  statement.  I  knew  not  what  to  respond  to  him 
when  he  had  done.  But  be  sure,  dear  mother,  there 
must  something  grow  out  of  this,  of  the  greatest  impor 
tance  to  this  dynasty.  Who  can  divine  the  secret? 

But  I  must  here  close  my  letter,  with  assurances  ot 
my  fondest  attachment  to  you,  my  dear  mother,  whom 
the  gods  guard  from  all  mysteries  and  secrets,  and  from 
ambitious  princes  like  the  lord  Moeris. 

Your  ever  faithful 

SESOSTKIS. 


364:  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,   OR 


LETTER    XX11. 

ISLAND  OF  RHODA,  PALACE  OF  THE  QUEKN. 
VERY   DEAR   MOTHER  I 

IN  the  preceding  letter  I  have  made  known  to 
you  the  extraordinary  purpose  of  the  queen  to  invest, 
with  the  dignity  of  royalty,  her  son,  the  Prince  Reme- 
ses ;  the  singular  scenes  which  passed  between  them ; 
the  mystery  which  enveloped  her  motives;  and  the 
final  yielding  of  Remeses  to  her  commands  and  earnest 
appeals. 

It  now  became  necessary  that  he  should,  according  to 
the  custom  and  laws  of  the  realm,  prepare  himself  for 
his  coronation,  by  submitting  to  certain  religious  cere 
monies,  and  a  solemn  initiation  into  the  deeper  myste 
ries  of  the  temples ;  for  though,  as  a  prince,  he  was 
nominally,  or  by  courtesy  of  the  laws,  the  high-priest, 
yet  not  until  he  became  king  could  he  offer  the  supreme 
sacrifice  on  the  altar  of  Osiris, — which  is  the  highest 
religious  act  of  the  sacred  priesthood;  and  it  is  only 
upon  the  shields  of  kings  that  the  symbol  of  "  priest" 
is  sculptured.  Thus,  as  chief  priests,  or  pontiffs,  the 
Pharaohs  were  the  head  of  the  hierarchy,  which  consoli 
dated  their  political  power,  and  gave  them  an  influence 
over  the  minds  of  the  people  that  the  mere  possession  of 
the  sceptre  of  Egypt  could  not  have  commanded  ;  for 


ISRAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  365 

in  their  king,  they  also  behold  their  mediator  with  the 
gods.  Yet,  although  absolute  over  his  subjects,  he  had 
no  power  over  the  priesthood,  except  by  their  own  con 
sent.  As  one  of  their  body  he  was  bound,  by  certain 
most  solemn  and  mystic  vows,  to  the  rules  and  regula 
tions  of  their  order ;  and  in  all  matters  of  state  he  was 
pledged  to  the  hierarchy  of  prince-priests,  who  consti 
tuted  a  council  of  advice,  to  which  he  was,  by  the  laws 
(also  made  by  a  legislature  composed  of  the  hierarchs  of 
each  nome),  compelled  to  submit  his  own  will.  All 
his  duties  are  regulated  by  a  code  drawn  up  by  the 
Priest  of  On,  and  subscribed  by  the  king  at  his  corona 
tion.  Thus  the  monarch  is  entirely  under  the  influ 
ence  and  control  of  the  priests.  I  will,  by  way  of  illus 
tration,  describe  to  you  how  the  queen  (who  is  also 
chief  priestess,  by  virtue  of  her  rank,  and,  as  such, 
offered  up  a  sacrifice  on  the  altar  of  Osiris  on  the  day 
of  her  coronation)  has  her  daily  duties  and  hours  ap 
portioned  to  her,  by  this  august  council  of  arch-hiero- 
phants : 

When  her  majesty  arises  in  the  morning,  her  royal 
scribe  brings  to  her,  in  a  shallow  vase  of  gold,  the  letters 
that  have  come  to  her  from  all  parts  of  her  kingdom, 
and  of  the  world.  These  she  reads,  and  lays  aside  for 
reply  after  consultation  with  Remeses,  and,  if  of  great 
importance,  with  her  council  of  state :  for  she  has  also 
a  cabinet  of  generals,  lords  of  nomes,  and  high  admirals, 
together  with  the  lord  of  the  nilometers,  whom  she 
calls  together  on  matters  exclusively  of  state,  such  as  the 
affairs  of  the  army  or  of  the  navy,  the  condition  of  the 
harvests  and  treasure-cities,  and  the  state  of  the  I^ile ; 
«n  which  two  last  matters  the  reign  of  prosperity  or 


366  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

famine  depends.  She  then  receives,  and  at  once  attends 
to  all  reports  or  messages  that  are  in  writing,  from  any 
officers  of  her  palace,  such  as  the  captain  of  her  guard, 
the  chief  butler,  chief  gardener,  her  captain  of  chariots, 
and  her  master  of  horse.  She  then  issues  her  orders  to 
these  and  other  servants  of  her  household.  All  this 
time  she  reclines  in  a  robe  of  white  silk,  elegantly  em 
broidered  with  the  leaves  of  the  lotus  and  acanthus, 
and  with  flowers  imitated  to  the  full  beauty  of  natural 
ones.  Her  hair  is  braided  and  confined  by  a  rich  tur 
ban  ;  and  before  her  is  an  ivory  table  containing  ink, 
tablets,  a  stylus  or  two,  and  parcels  of  royal  papyrus 
stamped  with  her  signet,  and  beautifully  gilded,  upon 
which  she  inscribes  her  replies  either  with  her  own 
hand,  or  by  her  scribes,  and  sometimes  only  by  impress 
ing  thereon  her  signet,  upon  which  vermilion  is  rubbed 
from  a  small  cushion  by  her  side.  For  religious  affairs 
the  signet  is  different,  having  the  sacred  hawk's-head 
engraved  upon  it  above  the  royal  cartouch,  and  instead 
of  red  color, — the  sacred  hue  of  the  Memphitic  realm, 
— it  is  bright  blue,  which  is  taken  from  a  very  small 
crystal  bottle,  held  in  readiness  by  a  scribe's  page,  from 
whose  thumb  it  is  suspended  by  a  ring  of  gold. 

The  queen  having  dismissed  all  these  attendants,  re 
tires  to  her  bathing-room,  which  is  hung  with  curtains 
of  cloth  of  gold;  and  having  bathed,  her  handmaidens 
anoint  her  with  costly  perfumes,  and  arrange  her  hah 
with  the  highest  art;  for  in  the  style  of  the  hair  the 
Egyptian  ladies  of  all  ranks  display  great  taste,  and  ex 
pend  in  dressing  and  beautifying  it  a  large  proportion  of 
their  time;  and  I  must  acknowledge  they  display  per 
fect  skill  in  making  most  attractive  this  glorious  adorn- 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  367 

ment  of  your  sex,  dear  mother.  The  young  wear  it 
in  numerous  braids,  mingled  with  natural  tresses;  others 
shape  it  into  a  sort  of  a  helmet,  with  a  crest  of  curls  fall 
ing  around;  others  fasten  it  behind  in  a  rich  knot,  and 
let  what  is  free  flow  upon  the  shoulders.  Some  cover 
the  head  with  a  braided  tiara  sparkling  with  gold  and 
jewels ;  and  others,  especially  at  banquets,  wear  rich 
caps  of  embroidered  cloth,  of  beautiful  shape,  termi 
nating  behind  in  a  cape  enriched  with  needle-work,  and 
ornamented  with  fringe  of  floss  of  gold, — a  peculiar 
filament  I  have  seen  fabricated  only  in  E«;yi)t.  Indeed, 

i/  9*f  1 

Egyptian  lady  seems  to  regard  her  hair  as  her  crown 
of  beauty  by  nature,  and  she  tries  by  art  to  make  it 
also  a  diadem  of  glory.  As  if  its  natural  brilliancy  were 
Tiot  enough,  after  pouring  upon  it  fragrant  perfume,  her 
maid,  from  a  small  ivory  box,  the  convex  lid  of  which  is 
filled  with  minute  perforations,  sprinkles  its  smooth  sur 
^ace  with  powder  of  gold. 

The  dressing-room  of  the  queen  opens  upon  gardens, 
is  furnished  with  luxury,  and  is  encircled  by  columns 
of  alabaster ;  its  intercolninnar  panels  glitter  with  for 
eign  marbles,  and  paintings  of  the  highest  art ;  the 
tables  are  resplendent  with  gold  and  silver,  elec- 
tram,  and  variegated  stones ;  while  before  its  doors 
hang  drapery  of  Tyrian  purple  wrought  with  gold, 
and  representing  scenes  of  the  chase.  More  or  less  re 
sembling  this,  are  the  dressing-rooms  of  all  the  ladies  of 
rank.  The  lords  of  Egypt  covet  gorgeous  and  expen 
sively  adorned  u  halls  of  books,"  or  libraries ;  but  the 
ladies  beautify  and  enrich  their  dressing-saloons,  in 
which  they  spend  so  much  of  their  time,  and  where 
they  often  receive  their  very  intimate  female  acquaint- 


368  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

ances :  and  as  a  great  favor,  gentlemen,  on  familiar  foot 
ing  witli  the  family,  are  sometimes  admitted  into  this 
beautiful  adytum,  where  the  goddess  of  beauty  is  adored 
by  homage  the  most  religious. 

The  queen,  after  being  attired  by  her  ladies  in  mag 
nificent  robes,  is  adorned  with  jewels ;  and  wearing 
over  her  shoulders .  the  splendid  leopard's-skin  of  the 
sacrificer,  and  upon  her  head  the  insignia  of  sover 
eignty,  she  enters,  with  all  her  train,  the  private  chapel 
of  the  palace,  and  there  presents  offerings  to  the  gods, 
pours  a  Kbation  of  wine,  and  invokes  Osiris.  On  cer 
tain  high  days  her  chief  priest  is  present,  who,  after 
praying,  sacrifices  a  snow-white  fowl,  and  offers  oblations 
of  more  or  less  magnitude.  The  queen  then  asks  forgive 
ness  of  the  gods  for  what  she  may  have  clone  wrong  in 
ignorance,  in  administering  her  kingdom,  and  implores 
wisdom  and  guidance  in  the  acts  of  the  day.  The 
priest  now  gently  touches  her  crown  and  sceptre  with 
his  finger  dipped  in  the  vase  of  blood,  pours  the  rest 
into  a  vessel  upon  the  altar,  and  extending  his  hands 
over  her  as  she  kneels,  blesses  her  in  the  name  of  Osiris, 
the  lord  of  the  worlds,  and  king  of  the  rulers  of  earth. 
He  also  pronounces  an  imprecation  against  her  enemies, 
exempts  her  from  all  accusation  for  things  done  in  igno 
rance,  and  solemnly  denounces  those  of  her  ministers 
who  wrongfully  have  instructed  her,  or  administered 
evil  counsel. 

\y  Then  the  quaen,  coming  forth  from  prayer,  is  met  by 
pages  who  present  her  with  flowers,  and,  at  the  sound  of 
musical  instruments,  she  is  led  to  her  breakfast  apart 
ment,  where  the  choicest  food  is  brought  on  golden 
dishes, — cakes  of  fine  flour,  steeped  in  rnilk  or  honey, 


ISKAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  369 

the  flesh  of  birds  roasted  or  broiled,  fruit  of  all  kinds, 
mild  wines  of  Palestine  and  Cyprus,  and  water  of  the 
Kile  filtered  with  the  paste  of  almonds,  and  flavored 
with  Arabian  spices  and  Persian  condiments. 

The  meal  over,  she  goes  forth  to  her  throne-room,  and 
seating  herself,  the  doors  are  thrown  open,  and  she  re 
ceives  all  petitioners  and  comers  who  desire  audience ; 
but  not  official  persons,  such  as  ambassadors,  who  have 
y  /certain  hours  for  audience  with  her.  She  decides  on  all 
'  final  appeals  from  the  judges  in  the  city,  or  in  the 
nomes,  and  determines  with  wisdom  and  equity. 

These  duties  over,  she  walks  in  her  garden,  or  in  the 
colonnades  of  her  palace ;  or  rides  out  to  visit  her  public 
works,  or  for  air.  At  noon  she  dines,  as  do  all  other 
Egyptians.  On  those  occasions  she  has  her  high  offi 
cers,  and  strangers  of  rank,  philosophers,  and  others,  at 
her  table.  Whosoever  she  delights  to  honor,  she  invites 
to  a  banquet.  If  any  of  her  subjects  greatly  distin 
guishes  himself,  so  as  to  confer  a  benefit  upon  Egypt  by 
any  new  art  or  improvement,  she  not  only  places  him  at 
her  table,  whatever  his  previous  rank,  but  invests  him 
with  a  robe  of  honor,  throws  a  gold  chain  over  his  neck, 
puts  a  ring  upon  his  finger,  presents  him  with  a  chariot 
to  ride  in,  and  makes  him  a  high  officer  over  some  of 
her  works  or  departments.  Thus,  by  her  virtues  and 
justice,  has  she  won  the  esteem  and  love  of  her  subjects. 

The  queen  usually  passes  the  afternoon  with  her 
maidens,  in  her  embroidering  rooms,  where  she  always 
lias  a  large  number  of  handmaids  at  work  with  the 
needle  or  the  loom,  or  engaged  in  the  art  of  needle 
work,  or  embroidering  for  the  use  and  decoration  of  the 
palace.  She  aiso,  at  evening,  receives  guests,  and  at 

16* 


3TG  THE   PILLAR   OF    FIRE,    O.R 

that  time  Remeses  is  usually  found  in  her  company. 
She  retires  not  long  after  the  close  of  day,  unless  it  be  a 
moonlight  night,  when  her  players  on  instruments  of 
music  fill  the  gardens  with  harmony,  while  the  queen 
and  her  friends,  seated  in  the  corridors,  listen,  or  con 
verse  together.  In  conversation  the  queen  never  speaks 
evil  of  any  one,  and  she  frowns  upon  slander;  hence 
this  vice  is  scarcely  known  in  Egypt,  and  the  Egyptian 
ladies,  when  they  hear  one  of  their  own  sex  spoken 
against,  at  once  defend  her,  and  find  excuses  for  her. 
This  is  certainly  a  delightful  trait,  and  should  cause  the 
world  to  concede  to  the  dames  "of  Egypt  the  foremost 
position  in  the  rank  of  civilization. 

I  will  now  speak  of  the  proposed  succession  of  Prince 
Remeses  to  the  throne.  As  I  have  before  said,  the  king 
is  the  representative  of  the  deity.  His  title,  Ph'rah,  or 
Pharaoh,  signifies  "  the  sun,"  "  a  king,"  the  "  lord  of 
light."  The  head  of  the  religion  of  the  state,  he  is  not 
only  the  judge  and  lawgiver,  but  commander  of  the  army,, 
and  its  leader  in  war.  These  latter  duties  have  been 
delegated  by  his  mother  to  Remeses,  by  the  consent  of 
her  council,  many  years  ago.  The  sceptre  of  Egypt  is 
hereditary ;  but  iri  the  event  of  there  being  no  lineal 
heir,  the  monarch  can  adopt  one,  if  taken  from  the 
priestly  or  military  class ;  as  the  army  or  the  priesthood 
are  the  two  professions  followed  by  all  men  of  rank,  the 
navy  not  having  been,  until  Prince  Moeris,  its  admiral, 
demanded  it,  an  exclusive  service.  Most  of  the  Pha 
raohs  have  been  from  the  military  class,  and  younger 
princes,  from  the  days  of  Osirtasen  to  Prince  Remeses, 
have  adopted  the  warlike  profession ;  but  it  is  the  uni 
versal  belief,  that  no  former  prince  of  Egypt  has  evinced 


ISKAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  371 

such  ability  as  Remeses  to  command  vast  armies,  and 
lead  the  destinies  of  a-niiglity  people. 

When  a  prince  is  about  to  ascend  the  throne,  the  laws 
require  that  he  should  be  instructed  in  all  the  mysteries 
of  the  religion  of  his  empire,  and  initiated  into  the 
various  offices  of  a  sovereign  pontiff.  He  is  taught  all 
.hat  relates  to  the  gods  and  other  mysteries  hitherto 
•/oneealed  from  him,  the  services  of  the  temple,  the  laws 
tf  the  country,  and  the  duties  of  a  king,  as  inscribed  in 
die  ten  sacerdotal  books. 

In  order  that  in  these  things  he  may  be  properly  in 
structed,  he  is  enjoined  to  pass  forty  days  in  the  temples 
of  Osiris,  Pthah,  Isis,  Athor,  and  other  gods ;  and  to  re 
main  one  night,  the  last  of  all,  in  the  temple  of  Thoth, 
before  the  pyramids,  watching  alone,  praying  for  the 
blessings  of  the  gods,  and  offering  sacrifice  and  liba 
tions.  This  solemn  vigil  ended,  and  the  sun  risen,  he  is 
escorted  by  a  grand  procession  of  priests,  who  swing 
incense  before  him,  and  lead  him  to  the  temple  of  the 
Sun,  to  be  crowned  in  the  presence  of  all  the  nobles, 
high  officers,  -and  people  of  Egypt.  This  ceremony,  as 
described  in  the  royal  books,  is  grand  beyond  concep 
tion. 

In  order,  therefore,  to  enter  upon  this  formal  prepara 
tion,  the  Prince  Remeses,  on  the  third  day  after  his  in 
terview  with  his  mother,  retired  from  the  palace,  and 
sought  the  holy  solitudes  of  the  temple  of  the  Sun.  A 
council  of  the  hierarchy,  assembled  by  the  queen,  had 
reluctantly  given  their  consent  to  her  abdication ;  but 
willingly  yielded  to  the  coronation  of  Remeses ;  for, 
however  devoted  a  warlike  nation  may  be  to  a  reigning 
queen,  the  preference  of  the  people's  heart  is  for  a  king. 


372  THE    PILLAR   OF    FIRE,    OR 

"While,  therefore,  the  intelligence,  which  soon  spread 
through  Egypt,  that  Amense  the  Good  was  to  lay  down 
her  sceptre  in  favor  of  her  son,  cast  a  shadow  over  their 
hearts,  it  was  chased  away  "by  the  light  of  the  antici 
pated  splendor,  which  the  reign  of  a  prince,  a  "  Pha 
raoh,"  would  shed  upon  the  land  of  Egypt. 

"  As  the  good  queen  will  still  live,  we  need  not 
grieve,"  said  some  of  the  artisans  at  work  upon  her  ob 
elisk;  "we  can  rejoice  in  Remeses,  and  still  honor  his 
royal  mother." 

It  was  an  affecting  parting  between  the  prince  and  his 
mother  when  he  left  the  palace.  I  accompanied  him  to 
the  vestibule  of  the  temple.  Here  twelve  priests,  led  by 
the  high-priest,  received  him  ;  and  three  others  came  for 
ward  to  disrobe  him  of  his  vesture,  his  bonnet  and  san 
dals;  while  three  more  invested  him  with  sacerdotal 
robes,  a  priestly  tiara,  and  placed  upon  his  feet  the  sa 
cred  sandals.  Then  inclosing  him  in  their  midst,  as  if 
to  shut  him  out  from  the  world,  they  moved  forward 
into  the  gloomy  cloisters  of  the  temple,  and  disappeared 
with  him  from  my  gaze. 

At  his  previous  request,  and  at  the  earnest  solicita 
tion  of  the  queen,  who,  in  his  absence,  depressed  in 
spirits,  finds  relief,  as  she  kindly  says,  in  my  presence, 
I  returned  to  the  Island  of  Rhoda,  and  am  now  occupy 
ing  the  apartments  of  the  prince ;  for  when  he  is  crowned 
king,  he  will  remove  to  the  superb  old  palace  of  the 
Pharaohs,  on  the  banks  of  the  Kile,  between  the  river 
and  the  City  of  the  Sun. 

Ko  one  is  permitted  to  speak  with  the  royal  novitiate 
until  the  forty  days  are  ended ;  and  when  he  proceeds 
from  temple  to  temple,  to  go  through  in  each  certain 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  373 

• 

rites  and  receive  certain  instructions,  it  is  at  midnight ; 
and  all  persons  are  forbidden  to  appear  in  the  streets 
through  which  the  mysterious  procession  of  priests 
passes. 

It  is  now  the  thirty-fourth  day  since  he  entered  upon 
his  initiation.  Since  that  time  I  have  seen  much  more 
of  Egypt  and  of  the  people.  I  have  not,  however,  been 
far  from  the  Island  of  Rhoda,  as  the  queen  constantly 
demands  my  society,  and  inquires  of  Acherres  after  me, 
if  I  am  long  away. 

Yesterday  afternoon,  as  I  was  engaged  with  a  party  of 
nobles  fishing  in  the  Lake  Amense,  which  I  have  before 
described  as  almost  a  sea  in  extent,  and  bordered  by 
palaces,  a  galley,  rowed  by  twenty-four  oars,  was  seen 
coming  towards  us  at  great  speed.  Upon  seeing  it,  one 
said : 

"  It  is  a  royal  barge  !" 

"Nay,  said  another,  it  is  that  of  the  old  Admiral 
Pathromenes.  His  sails  are  blue  and  white." 

"  I  do  not  heed,  the  color  of  his  sails,'1  said  the  finrt 
lord.  "  Seest  thou  not  that  it  is  the  queen's  galley,  by 
the  golden  hawk's-head  at  the  mast,  and  the  cartouch  of 
the  Pharaohs  above  the  poop  ?" 

"  It  is  the  queen's  galley,"  I  said,  "  for  I  have  fre 
quently  been  in  it,  and  recognize  its  symbols." 

Hereupon  there  was  manifested  a  general  curiosity  to 
know  why  it  was  coining  so  swiftly  towards  us.  In  a 
few  minutes  I  discovered  my  Hebrew  page,  Israelisis, 
(for  1  have  Egyptianized  his  name  since  he  came  into 
my  service),  upon  the  deck,  and  began  to  suspect  the 
queen  had  sent  him  for  me.  I  was  not  mistaken.  The 
galley  came  sweeping  round  us  with  a  roar  of  spray 


o7i  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIEE,   OR 

from  its  dashing  oars,  and  the  page,  springing  lightly 
upon  the  bulwarks  of  onr  vessel,  with  a  low  obeisance 
presented  me  the  queen's  signet,  saying : 

"  The  queen  has  sent  for  thee,  my  lord  !" 

The  party  of  nobles  expressed  great  reluctance  at 
parting  with  me,  and  one  of  them  said : 

"You  are  in  great  favor  with  our  royal  house,  O 
prince." 

"  Only  as  a  guest  and  stranger,"  I  answered,  smiling. 

They  returned  my  parting  bow  with  courtesy,  and  I 
went  upon  the  galley,  which  was  soon  cleaving  the  shin 
ing  surface  of  the  beautiful  lake,  called  by  the  Egyp 
tians  "  the  Celestial  Sea."  It  is- twenty  stadia  in  circuit, 
and  from  it  lead  out  canals  in  numerous  directions,  lined 
with  verdure,  and  rich  with  harvests.  It  also  commu 
nicates  with  the  majestic  Father  of  rivers  by  a  winding 
artificial  outlet,  which  is  lined  with  gardens  and  palaces. 
Along  this  lovely  serpentine  stream,  our  galley,  after 
leaving  the  broad  lake,  flew  like  the  wind,  all  other  vessels 
swiftly  moving  from  its  course  and  giving  it  the  way. 
Shooting  out  into  the  swift  Nile,  between  two  colossal 
sea-dragons  of  red  stone,  which  guarded  the  entrance  to 
the  canal,  we  crossed  to  the  palace-covered  Rhoda.  As 
I  was  about  to  land  at  the  stately  quay,  I  saw,  to  my 
surprise,  the  war-galley  of  Prince  Moeris  riding  near, 
her  rowers  still  seated  at  their  banks,  as  if  ready  to  move 
at  a  moment's  warning.  I  met  Acherres,  who  has 
wholly  recovered  from  his  long  illness,  of  which  I  wrote 
his  father,  at  the  gateway  of  the  palace. 

"  My  prince,"  he  said,  looking  anxious,  "  I  am  glad 
you  have  come.  Her  majesty  is  in  some  great  distress." 

"  Is  Prince  Moeris  here  ?"  I  quickly  asked. 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  375 

"No,  my  prince;  but  his  galley  lias  brought  hither 
a  courier  with  letters." 

"  Perhaps  he  has  been  defeated  in  the  borders  of  Ethi 
opia,"  was  my  reflection ;  for  I  knew  he  had  been  con 
templating  an  invasion  of  its  capital,  on  account  of  the 
promise  he  had  exacted  from  the  queen,  that  he  should 
rule  alone  on  the  ancient  throne  of  the  Theban  kings  in 
Upper  Egypt. 

Ushered  from  apartment  to  apartment,  I  was  soon  led 
into  the  immediate  presence  of  the  queen.  In  the  ante 
chamber,  before  I  entered,  I  had  seen  a  stranger,  whose 
features  and  costume  showed  that  he  was  a  Theban  lord 
or  high  officer.  He  bowed  haughtily  to  me,  as  I  ac 
knowledged  his  presence  in  the  usual  way  when  stran 
gers  meet. 

I  found  the  queen  alone.  She  was  walking  to  and  fro 
with  a  quick,  nervous  step.  In  her  hand  she  held  a  let 
ter  with  the  seal  broken.  Upon  seeing  me,  she  came 
towards  me,  and  said : 

"  O  Prince  Sesostris,  who  art  to  me  next  to  my  son,  1 
am  glad  you  have  come !  Pardon  me  for  sending  for 
you  !"  Her  eyes  were  bright  with  tears,  and  her  voice 
was  tremulous. 

"  You  ought  to  have  done  so,  O  noble  queen,"  I  an 
swered,  "  since  you  are  in  trouble." 

"  In  trouble,  Sesostris  !  It  is  more  than  trouble  ;  it  is 
a  weight  greater  than  I  can  bear !" 

"  Has  Moeris  been  defeated  ?"  I  asked,  with  earnest 
sympathy. 

"  Mosris  defeated !  No,  oh  no ;  but  rather  conqueror. 
But  I  speak  an  enigma !" 

"  Has  aught  happened  to  Remeses  in  his  sacred  duties?'' 


376  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIEE,    OK 

"  No,  oh  no !  It  is  Mceris !  He  will  break  my 
heart !" 

"  What  has  he  done  ?  "What  can  I  do  ?"  I  asked,  per- 
^  plexed. 

•"  Nothing — that  is,  you  can  do  nothing !  As  for  Mce 
ris,  he  has  done  every  thing !  But  why  do  I  talk  to 
you  ?  You  understand  me  not !  There  is  a  fearful 
secret,  O  Sesostris  !  I  did  not  send  for  you  to  reveal  it 
to  you — but — but  for  sympathy ; — for  your  company  ! 
I  know  you  love  me,  for  you  are  the  friend  of  Remeses, 
and  you  have  a  mother  whom  you  love  and  honor." 

"  And  I  also  love  and  honor  you,  O  my  mother  !"  I 
said,  taking  her  hand  and  conducting  her  to  a  chair. 
But  she  refused  to  sit  down.  She  regarded  me  with 
eager  eyes,  as  if  she  were  penetrating  my  soul  to  its 
depths.  Suddenly  she  said : 

"  Has  Remeses  told  you  oil  the  conversations  I  have 
had  with  him  ?" 

"  He  has  talked  much  with  me  of  what  has  passed  be 
tween  you,  O  queen,"  I  answered. 

"  Did  he  speak  of  a  secret  I  held  locked  in  my  heart 
even  from  him  ?" 

"  He  did.  He  said  it  was  known,  however,  to  Prince 
Mceris,  who  held  it  over  you  as  a  power  of  evil." 

"  Did  Remeses  suspect  its  nature  ?"  she  demanded. 

"  He  informed  me  that  he  once  had  a  suspicion  which 
your  majesty  removed." 

"  Yes,"  she  said,  with  a  strange,  cold  smile,  "  he  fan 
cied  that  Mceris's  secret  was,  that  he  was  the  true  heir  of 
-v  the  throne — my  son  ;  and  that  Remeses  was  the  nephew 
of  Pharaoh,  not  himself!  Was  it  not  an  extraordinary 
idea,  prince  ?"  she  asked  me  with  the  same  icy  irony, 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  377 

tliat  was  unaccountable  to  me.  "  Who  could  e\  er  doubt 
that  Kemeses  is  my  own  son  ?" 

"  No  one,  your  majesty,"  I  answered,  seeing  she  looked 
to  me  for  a  reply. 

"  Surely  no  one !  Dost  thou  not  mark  how  like  our 
eyes  are  ?  And  then  our  voices  are  much  on  the  same 
key,  though  his,  as  becomes  a  man,  is  deeper.  His 
smile,  is  it  not  mine  ?  Nay,  no  one  could  say  we  are 
not  mother  and  son,  could  they,  O  Prince  of  Tyre? 
How  strange,  is  it  not,  that  Remeses  should  have  con 
ceived  such  an  ic]ea  ?" 

"He  had  probably  heard,  your  majesty,  traditions  of 
infant  sons  of  kings  having  been  interchanged ;  and  as 
lie  could  not  account  for  the  Prince  of  Thebes'  influence 
over  you  by  a  secret,  on  any  other  reasonable  grounds, 
he  ventured  this  supposition." 

"  But  he  never  will  doubt  again,  O  Sesostris !"  she 
cried  in  an  earnest  manner ;  "  no  one  now  could  make 
him  suspect,  a  second  time,  he  is  not  my  son !  Oh  no, 
never !  never !  Could  they,  think  you,  my  lord  prince  ?" 

"  No,  madam,"  I  answered ;  her  singular  manner  and 
language  wholly  surprising  me,  and  leading  me  to  feai 
that  she  was  not  at  all  well ;  that  her  nerves  had  been 
too  severely  tried  by  the  intelligence,  whatsoever  its 
nature  was,  which  she  had  received  from  Prince  Moeris. 
"  Your  majesty,  I  hope,  has  had  no  evil  tidings,"  I  added, 
glancing  at  the  letter  she  still  grasped. 

"  Oh,  evil !  All  evil,  all !"  she  cried,  with  anguish  in 
her  looks.  "  Prince  Sesostris !"  she  all  at  once  exclaimed, 
"  you  can  be  trusted !  I  need  sympathy.  I  cannot 
have  it  unless  I  reveal  to  you  my  terrible  secret !  I 
know  I  can  confide  in  you.  My  heart  will  break  un- 


378  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

less  I  rest  the  weight  which  oppresses  it  upon  another 
heart!" 

"  Remeses  will  in  a  few  clays  be  with  you,  and — 
I  began  ;  but  she  interrupted  me  with  accents  of  terror, 

"  ~No — no !  It  is  of  him  !  He  must  never  know  my 
secret !  It  would  kill  him — he  would  fall  to  the  earth  a 
dead  man,  as  if  the  lightnings  of  heaven  had  smitten 
him  !  No,  not  Remeses  !  With  him  silence — eternal 
silence !" 

"If  it  will  relieve  your  majesty  to  confide  in  me,  I 
will  receive  with  gratitude  your  revelation,  and  extend 
you  all  the  sympathy  in  my  powrer,"  I  said,  with  emo 
tion. 

"  Noble,  excellent,  virtuous  prince !"  she  exclaimed, 
lifting  my  hand  to  her  lips.  "  My  determination  is 
fixed  !  You  shall  know  my  secret !  It  will  be  safe  in 
your  honorable  breast.  But  will  yon,  O  prince,  con 
sent  to  receive  a  revelation  affecting  Kemeses,  your 
friend,  which  you  are  forbidden  to  make  known  to 
him  ?" 

"  For  your  sake,  O  queen.  I  will  receive  it,  and  con 
ceal  it  from  Remeses,  and  all  men,"  I  answered.  "I 
would  not  wish  to  make  known  to  him  what  would  af 
fect  him,  as  you  say." 

"  Come  with  me,  then,  O  prince,  into  my  private 
cabinet,"  she  said,  with  a  voice  deep  and  full,  as  if  she 
were  greatly  moved. 

I  was  about  to  follow  her,  as  she  went  with  a  quick 
resolved  step,  when  her  page  without  the  door  gave 
the  usual  sign,  by  tinkling  a  silver  sistrum,  which  forms 
the  handles  of  their  ivory  sticks,  that  he  wished  to  enter. 
The  queen  said,  almost  sternly— 


ISKAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  379 

"  I  can  see  no  one,  prince." 

I  approached  the  double  door,  and,  opening  one  of 
the  inlaid  valves,  saw  behind  the  page  the  tall  figure  of 
the  Theban. 

"  This  lord  waits  for  an  answer,"  said  the  page. 

"  The  queen  will  give  you  audience  by  and  by,"  I 
said.  "  At  present  her  majesty  is  engaged.  Await  her 
leisure." 

The  Thisian  courier  bit  his  lip,  and  scowled  impa 
tiently.  I  perceived  that  the  man  had  caught  the  spirit 
of  the  master  ;  and  could  judge  how  defiant  and  haugh 
ty  Moeris  must  be  when  his  courier  could  play  the  im 
patient  follower  so  well.  Rejoining  her  majesty,  I  said, 
in  answer  to  her  inquiring  look,  "  The  courier  from  the 
viceroy." 

"  Yes — he  is  restless.  But  I  must  have  time  !"  She 
grew  so  deadly  pale,  as  she  spoke,  that  I  supported  her 
into  the  cabinet,  when  she  sunk  upon  a  lounge,  and 
would  have  fainted  away  but  for  water  at  hand.  When 
she  recovered  she  said — 

"  Sesostris,  my  son,  my  friend,  when  you  hear  all, 
you  will  find  excuses  for  me.  Read  that  letter  first." 

XAnd  she  placed  in  my  hand  an  epistle,  written  upon 
tne  silver  leaves  which  the  kings  of  Thebes  have  always 
made  use  of  for  their  royal  letters. 

But,  my  dear  mother,  I  will  here  close  this  epistle. 
My  next  will  not  be  for  your  eye  at  present,  if  ever ; 
unless  circumstances  transpire  which  will  remove  the 
seal  from  the  secret  revealed  to  me. 

I  feel  that  your  warmest  sympathies  will  be  with  the 
unhappy  queen. 

Farewell,  dearest  mother !     May  the  gods  preserve 


380  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,   OR 

you  from  all  sorrow,  and  the  Lord  of  the  Sun,  the  Great 
Invisible,  defend  your  life  and  throne.  I  hope  soon  to 
hear  the  result  of  your  embassy  to  the  barbaric  King  of 
Cyprus. 

Your  dutiful  son, 

SESOSTRIS. 


ISRAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  381 


LETTER    XXIII. 

PALACE  OF  RHODA. 
MY  VKKI  i>Kajc  MOTHEE: 

I  EMBKAOE  the  first  leisure  I  can  command,  since 
closing  my  last  letter,  to  resume  the  subject  which  filled 
its  pages. 

This  letter,  however,  I  shall  withhold,  until  I  either 
have  authority  to  send  it  to  you,  or  circumstances  ren 
der  it  expedient  to  destroy  it ;  but  in  order  to  keep  a 
record  of  the  events  now  transpiring,  I  write  them  down 
in  the  shape  of  an  epistle  to  my  dear  mother,  so  that 
hereafter,  if  it  be  necessary  to  refer  to  it  for  facts,  there 
may  be  written  evidence  of  them. 

The  letter  of  Prince  Mceris,  which  the  queen  placed 
in  my  hands,  was  dated  some  years  back,  and,  no  doubt, 
on  noticing  this,  my  countenance  betrayed  surprise ;  for 
she  said  quickly — 

"  Read  that  first.  I  conceal  nothing  from  you.  You 
shall  know  from  the  beginning." 

By  permission  of  her  majesty,  I  took  a  copy  of  the 
letter,  and  of  the  two  that  follow.  It  was  dated — 

"  CASTLE  OF  BUBASTIS,  PELUSIAN  DELTA. 

<l  To  AMENSE,  QUEEN  : 

"Your  Majesty, — I  address  my  letter  to  you  from 
this  petty  castle,  though,  albeit,  the  stronghold  of  your 


382  THE  PILLAR  OF  FIRE,  OR 

kingdom  seaward,  over  which  you  have  made  me  gov 
ernor.  For  a  subject,  this  would  be  a  post  of  honor. 
For  me,  the  son  of  your  husband's  brother,  your  royal 
nephew,  it  is  but  an  honorable  exile  from  a  court  where 
you  fear  my  presence.  Honorable,  do  I  say  ? — rather, 
dishonorable ;  for  am  I  not  a  prince  of  the  blood  of 
the  Pharaohs?  But  let  this  pass,  your  majesty.  I 
do  not  insist  upon  any  thing  based  upon  mere  lineage. 
I  feel  that  I  was  aggrieved  ~by  the  birth  of  Remeses.  I 
see  that  you  turn  pale.  Do  not  do  so  yet.  You  must 
read  further  before  the  blood  wholly  leaves  your  cheek. 
I  repeat,  I  am  aggrieved  by  the  '  birth  of  Remeses.' 
You  see  I  quote  the  last  three  words.  Ere  you  close 
this  letter,  your  majesty  will  know  why  I  mark  them 
thus.  Your  husband,  the  vicegerent  of  the  Thisitic 
kingdom  of  the  South,  after  leaving  his  capital,  Thebes, 
at  the  head  of  a  great  army,  died  like  a  soldier  de 
scended  from  a  line  of  a  thousand  warrior  kings,  in 
combat  with  the  Ethiopian.  I  was  then,  for  your  ma 
jesty  was  without  offspring,  the  heir  to  the  throne  of 
(  Egypt.  I  was  the  son  of  your  husband's  younger 
brother.  Though  but  three  years  old  when  your  lord 
was  slain,  I  had  learned  the  lesson  that  I  was  to  be  king 
of  Egypt,  when  I  became  a  man.  But  to  the  surprise 
of  all  men,  of  your  council  of  priests,  and  your  cabinet 
of  statesmen,  lo !  you  soon  afterwards  became  a  mother, 
when  no  evidences  of  this  promise  had  been  apparent ! 
Nay,  do  not  cast  down  this  letter,  O  queen !  Read  it  to 
the  end  !  It  is  important  you  should  know  all. 

"When  I  became  of  lawful  maturity,  it  was  whis 
pered  to  me  by  a  certain  person,  that  there  were  suspi 
cions  that  the  queen  had  feigned  maternity,  and  that  she 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  383 

(Jiad  adopted  an  infant  of  the  wife  of  one  of  her  lords, 
in  order  to  prevent  the  son  of  her  husband's  brother 
from  inheriting.  It  is  true,  your  majesty,  that  my 
father,  your  lord's  brother,  loved  you,  as  a  maiden,  and 
would  have  borne  you  from  the  palace  of  Pharaoh,  your 
father,  as  his  own.  Yet  why  should  your  revenge  ex 
tend  to  his  son,  after  he  married  another  princess? 
"Why  did  you  deceive  Egypt,  and  supplant  his  son  (my 
self),  by  imposing  upon  Egypt  the  infant  Remeses,  the 
child  of  a  lord  of  your  palace,  whom  no  one  knows,  for 
you  took  care  to  send  him,  with  an  ample  bribe  of  gold, 
to  Carthage,  or  some  other  distant  country.  Now,  your 
majesty  knows  whether  this  be  true  or  not.  I  believe 
it  to  be  so,  and  that  the  haughty,  hypocritically  meek 
/Remeses,  has  no  more  right  to  be  called  the  son  of  Pha- 
vraoh's  daughter  than  one  of  the  children  of  the  base 
Hebrews,  or  of  an  Egyptian  swineherd ;  and,  by  the 
gods,  judging  from  his  features,  he  might  be  a  Ben 
Israel ! 

"  I  demand,  therefore,  that  you  make  me  viceroy  of  the 
Thcba'id.  Unless  you  do  so,  I  swear  to  your  majesty, 
that  I  will  agitate  this  suspicion,  and  fill  all  Egypt  with 
the  idea  that  your  favorite  Remeses  is  not  your  son. 
Whether  I  believe  this  or  not,  matters  not.  If  there  be 
any  truth  in  it,  your  majesty  knows,  and  will,  no  doubt, 
act  accordingly. 

"  Tour  faithful  nephew, 

"  MCEKIS,  Prince." 

When  I  had  finished  reading  this  extraordinary  letter, 
I  raised  my  eyes  to  the  queen.  She  was  intently  ob 
serving  its  effect  upon  my  countenance. 


384:  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,   OR 

"  Dared  that  man  write  thus  to  your  majesty  ?"  I  cried, 
with  the  profoundest  emotions  of  indignation. 

"  You  have  read,''  answered  the  queen,  with  a  tremu 
lous  voice. 

"And  did  not  your  majesty  at  once  send  and  arrest 
the  bold  insulter  and  dangerous  man  ?"  I  said. 

She  bit  her  lip,  and  said,  in  a  hollow  tone — 

"  Prince  of  Tyre,  is  he  not  this  day  viceroy  of  the 
Thebaid  ?" 

"  Does  your  majesty  mean  that  you  yielded  to  his  de 
mand?" 

"Yes." 

"  I  marvel  at  it,"  said  I,  confounded  at  the  acknowl 
edgment.  "  If  what  he  had  said  had  been  true — " 

"  Sesostris,  falsehood  often  flies  faster  than  truth.  It 
can  do  as  much  mischief.  The  rumor  of  such  a  thing, 
false  or  true,  would  have  shaken  my  throne,  and  de 
stroyed  the  confidence  of  the  mass  of  the  people  in  Re- 
meses  when  he  came  to  the  sceptre.  I  resolved  to  stifle 
it  by  giving  Moeris  what  he  asked." 

I  regarded  the  queen  with  sentiments  of  pity  and 
sorrow.  She  said  quickly — 

"  Head  another  letter  from  him."  I  did  so.  It  was 
dated  three  years  later,  and  demanded  the  command  of 
the  fleet,  and  its  separation  from  the  control  of  the  gen- 
eral-in-chief  of  the  armies.  This  general-in-chief  was 
Eemeses,  dear  mother.  To  the  demand  the  queen 
yielded,  and  thereby  erected  the  maritime  arm  of  her 
kingdom  into  an  independent  service,  acknowledging  no 
superior  authority  but  that  of  the  throne.  When  I  had 
ended  the  perusal  of  the  letter,  the  queen  placed  in  my 
hand  a  third  missive  from  this  powerful  man. 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  385 

"This   is   what   I  received  but   now,"   she   gasped. 
"Head  it,  Sesostris,  and  give  me  your  sympathy." 
It  bore  date — 

"  CAMP,  OPPOSITE  THE  PALAOES  OF  THE  ) 
MEMNONIA,  THEBAID.  j 

"  To  THE  QUEEN  AMENSE  : 

"  Your  Majesty, — I  write  from  my  pavilion  pitch 
ed  at  the  foot  of  the  Libyan  mountains.  I  need  not  fore 
warn  you  of  the  subject  of  this  letter,  when  I  assure  you 
that  within  the  hour  I  have  received  intelligence  from 
Memphis,  that  you  are  about  to  abdicate  your  throne  in 
favor  of  Remeses,  your  suppositions  son.  This  intel 
ligence  does  not  surprise  me.  When  I  was  in  Lower 
Egypt,  I  saw  through  you  and  your  policy.  I  perceived 
that  while  you  feared  me,  you  resolved  to  defeat  my 
power  over  you.  This  purpose,  to  surrender  the  sceptre 
of  the  two  Egypts,  I  can  penetrate.  You  design,  there 
by,  securely  to  place  Remeses  beyond  my  power  to 
harm  him,  for  that,  being  king,  if  I  lift  a  finger  he  can 
destroy  me.  I  admire  your  policy,  and  bow  in  homage 
to  your  diplomacy.  But,  O  queen,  both  you  and 
Remeses  are  in  my  power !  Nay,  do  not  flash  your 
imperial  eyes  at  this  assertion.  Hear  me  for  a  few 
moments. 

"  Your  ready  compliance  with  my  demand,  a  few  years 
ago,  to  create  me  viceroy  of  Thebes,  led  me  to  believe 
that  my  suspicions  were  true  ;  that  is,  that  Remeses  was 
the  son  of  one  of  your  noble  ladies,  whom  you  had 
(adopted.  And  when  you  made  me  admiral  of  your  fleet, 
on  my  second  demand,  I  was  convinced  that  you  feared 
Jie  truth,  and  that  it  might  be  proven,  with  proper  evi- 

r 


386  THE    PILLAR    OF    FIRE,    OR 

dence.  that  Remeses  was  not  your  son.  I  set  to  work  to 
obtain  this  evidence.  You  know  that  I  have  something 
of  the  sleuth-hound  in  my  composition,  and  that  once 
upon  a  track  I  will  follow  it  to  its  termination,  were  it 
under  the  pyramid  of  Noachis  itself.  I  employed  em 
issaries.  I  bribed  even  your  own  courtiers.  I  ascer 
tained  who  were  of  your  court  when  your  husband  was 
killed  in  Ethiopia,  _tliirj.y-iive  years  ago.  /Three  old 
lords  and  ladies  still  live,  and  have  good  memories  when 
gold,  and  jewels,  and  promises  of  place  dazzle  their 
humid  eyes.  From  them  I  learned,  that  about  the  time 
of  the  supposed  birth  of  Remeses,  you  sent  away,  in  one 
day,  live  of  your  ladies  and  maids  of  honor,  to  a  distant 
country :  yet  not  so  quickly  but  that  one  of  them 
dropped  the  secret,  that  you  were  not  aj-eal  mother, 
and  that  the  infant  you  called  your  own  was  the  son  of 
another  woman.  This  secret  was  told  to  her  brother, 
who,  in  after  years,  was  my  master  of  horse.  When, 
on  one  occasion,  I  was  about  to  put  him  to  death  for 
cowardice  in  battle,  he  informed  me  that  he  held  a 
great  secret  '  concerning  the  queen,  Prince  Remeses, 
and  myself,'  and  that  if  I  would  pardon  and  restore 
him  to  his  rank,  he  would  divulge  it,  saying,  that  for 
fear  it  would  be  traced  to  him  by  your  majesty  if  he 
ever  spoke  of  it,  he  had  never  made  it  knowrn  to  any 
man. 

"  Curiosity  and  instinct  led  me  to  pardon  him.  lie  then 
stated  what  I  have  above  written, — that  you  feigned 
maternity,  and,  obtaining  a  mal&uhild  from  the  Hebrew 
nurse  of  one  of  your  ladies,  who  had  given  birth  to  it 
a  few  weeks  before,  you  shut  yourself  up  three  months, 
and  then  palmed  it  up  in  the  priests  and  people,  as  the 


ISKAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  387 

heir  of  your  throne  and  of  the  sceptre  of  the  Pha 
raohs.  The  mother,  the  nurse,  and  the  ladies  who 
were  parties  to  the  transaction,  were  then  all  banished 
from  Egypt. 

"  Instituting  a  thorough  investigation,  by  dispatching 
galleys  to  Tyre,  Carthage,  Gades,  and  the  isles  of  the 
sea,  at  length  I  was  rewarded  by  the  discovery  of  the 
port  to  which  your  women  were  carried.  Two  of  them 
only  were  found  alive.  Those  two  are  now  in  the  city 
of  On  !  When  I  was  in  Lower  Egypt  I  saw  them,  and 
will  name  them :  Thebia,  of  Py thorn,  and  ISTilia,  of  On. 
Your  majesty  perceives  how  exact  I  am  :  that  I  have 
my  way  clear  as  I  advance.  Methinks  I  can  see  you 
turn  deadly  white,  and  that  with  a  shriek  you  let 
fall  the  papyrus!  Take  it  up  again,  and  resume  the 
perusal.  It  is  useless  to  shrink  from  the  development 
of  the  truth.  You  may  shut  your  eyes  at  noon,  and  say 
i  It  is  night,'  but  you  cannot,  by  so  doing,  destroy  the 
the  light  of  the  sun.  You  may  close  your  eyes — you 
may  destroy  this  letter,  or  may  read  no  further ;  but 
the  truth  will  shine,  nevertheless,  with  a  -brightness 
which  will  drive  night  itself  before  it ! 

"These  venerable  women,  examined  apart,  told  the 
same  tale.     It  is  as  follows  : 
/     "  '  That  you  had  approached  the  river  on  the  morning 

/  of  the  festival  of  Isis  (you  see  I  am  particular),  to  bathe, 
as  your  custom  was,  in  the  marble  crescent  at  the  foot 

•    of  the  gardens  of  your  palace  of  Rhoda,  where  you  now 

are  residing.     You  had  descended  the  steps  into  the 

water,  and  your  women  had  taken  your  necklace,  and 

\    other  ornaments  from  you  ;  and,  robed  in  your  bathing- 

Nkese,  you  were  about  to  step  into  the  river,  when  you 


388  THE   PILLAR   OF    FIRE,    OR 

descried  a  basket  floating  slowly  past,  close  to  the  place 
where  you  stood.  "Wnile  you  were  looking  at  it,  it 
lodged  against  a  group  of  flags,  near  the  statue  of  i^epth, 
just  above  you.  Your  maidens  were  lingering  upon 
the  bank,  or  walking  near  at  hand,  awaiting  you, 
when,  seeing  Nilia  not  far  off,  you  called  to  her,  and 
said — 

"  '  Seest  thou  the  little  baris  of  basket-work,  O  Nilia? 
Draw  it  in  to  the  shore,  and  look  what  it  contains.' 

"  The  handmaiden  obeyed  you,  aided  by  her  compan 
ion,  Thebia,  and  when  you  drew  near  and  opened  the  lid, 
you  beheld  a  beautiful  child  lying  within  it.  It  looked 
up  into  your  face,  and  wept  so  piteously,  that  you  took 
it  up,  deeply  impressed  by  its  beauty  and  helplessness, 
and  the  extraordinary  manner  in  which  it  had  come  to 
you.  You  placed  it  in  the  arms  of  Thebia,  and  said 
to  her : 

"  'This  child  is  sent  to  me  by  Kilus,  ^e  deity  of  this 
great  river  of  Egypt.  I  will  adopt  it  as  my  own,  for  it 
has  no  father  but  the  river,  no  mother  but  this  little 
ark  of  flags  and  bitumen  in  which  it  has  floated  to  my 
feet.' 

u  You  then  gave  the  lovely  babe  many  kisses,  tenderly 
soothed  its  cries,  and  "was  so  happy  with  the  prize,  that 
you  hastened  to  leave  the  river.  But  before  you  did 
so,  the  wind  blew  aside  its  mantle,  and  you  discovered 
that  it  was  a  Hebrew  male  child,  for  the  Egyptians  do 
not  (Circumcise  their  infants.  This  discovery  was  made 
also  by  the  two  women,  Nilia  and  Thebia,  and  you  said : 

"  '  It  is  one  of  the  Hebrews'  children.' 

"  It  was  at  the  time  when  your  father's  edict  for  the 
destruction  of  all  the  male  children  of  this  Syrian  race 


ISRAEL    IN   BONDAGE.  389 

was  111  existence.  You  deliberated  what  to  do  with  it, 
when  its  wailing  tones  moved  your  heart,  and  you  said 
to  them : 

"  '  It  shall  still  be  mine  !     Let  us  keep  the  secret !     I 
/'will  raise  it  as  my  son !     Its  parents  think  it  has  per 
ished,  for  they  could  not  have  hoped  to  save  it  by  com 
mitting  it  to  this  frail  bark,  and  it  can  never  know  its 


origin  !' 


"That  child,  O  queen,  is  Remeses!  Of  this  I  have 
certain  evidence.  The  two  women  say,  you  ordered  the 
little  ark  to  be  taken  in  charge  by  your  chief  of  the 
baths.  In  verification  of  the  account,  the  ark  still  ex 
ists,  and  I  have  seen  it. 

"  It  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  add  more.  I  have  writ 
ten  enough  to  show  you  the  jxjwer  I  hold  over  you,  and 
over  this  IJfiiaesegJ^Ioaia,  His  very  name  signifies  '  Ta 
ken  out  of  the  water,'  and  was  given  to  him  by  yourself, 
as  if  the  gods  would  make  you  the  means  of  your  own 
conviction. 

"  Now,  O  queen,  who  intendeth  to  place  a  degraded 
Hebrew  upon  the  throne  of  Egypt,  I,  Mceris,  write  this 
epistle  warning  you,  that  unless  you  revoke  your  pur 
pose,  and  publicly  adopt  me  as  your  son,  and  convey  to 
me  the  two  crowns,  I  will  proclaim  through  all  Egypt 
your  shame,  and  the  true  history  of  this  Remeses !  I 
could  have  excused  you  had  he  proved  to  be  the  son  of 
one  of  your  ladies,  as  the  report  was ;  but  an  Hebrew  ! 
lie  deserves  death,  and  you  to  forfeit  your  crown !  But 
I  will  make  these  terms  with  your  majesty  : — if  you  will 
call  a  council  of  your  hierarchy  and  adopt  me  as  your 
son,  that  I  may  be  your  heir,  and  will  abdicate  in  my 
r,  I  will  conceal  what  I  know  from  the  Egyptians, 


390  THE    PILLAR   OF    FIRE,    OR 


and  more  still,  I  will  make  Remeses  governor  over  Go- 
shen,  and  lord  of  all  his  people  under  my  rule.  Is  not 
this  liberal  ? 

^f  "  If  you  refuse  my  terms,  I  will  descend  upon  Lower 
•Egypt  with  my  fleet,  declare  your  throne  vacant,  Re- 

j  meses  a  slave,  and  seize  the  sceptre  !  Once  in  my  power, 
your  favorite  Remeses  shall  die  an  ignominious  death, 
and  you  shall  remain  a  prisoner  for  life  in  the  castle  of 

\  Bubastis. 

"  I  dispatch  a  special  courier — my  -naster  of  horse — 
whose  sister  was  your  lady  in  waiting  at  the  finding  of 
Remeses.  Unless  I  have  a  reply  in  the  affirmative,  for 
which  my  courier  will  delay  six  hours,  you  shall  hear 
me  knocking  at  the  gates  of  Rhoda  with  the  head  of  my 
spear !  MOZEIS, 

' '  NEPHEW  AND  HEIR  OF  AMENSE,  QUEEN  OF  EGYPT.  ' ' 

When,  my  dear  mother,  I  had  finished  reading  this 
extraordinary  letter,  I  held  it  unrolled  in  my  hands  for 
a  few  moments,  stupefied,  as  it  were,  with  amazement. 
My  eyes  sought  the  face  of  the  queen.  It  was  rigid  as 
iron — white  as  alabaster  ;  but  her  regards  were  riveted 
upon  my  countenance. 

"Your  majesty,"  I  said,  hardly  knowing  what  to  say, 
"  what  fable  is  this  of  the  daring  and  impious  Prince  of 
Thebes—?" 

She  interrupted  me  with — 

"  What  dost  thou  think,  O  Sesostris  ?  If  it  be  a  fable, 
is  it  not,  in  such  a  man's  hand,  as  dangerous  as  truth  ? 
Dare  I  let  him  circulate  such  a  tale  throughout  Egypt  \ 
Can  I  let  it  reach  the  ears  of  Remeses  ?" 

"  Why  not,  O  queen  ?"  I  asked.     "If  it  is  false,  if  can 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  391 

be  shown  to  be  so ;  and  my  friend  Remeses  is  too  great 
and  wise  to  heed  it.  Is  it  by  so  improbable  and  art 
fully  framed  a  story  as  this,  you  are  made  unhappy  ; 
and  for  this  you  resign  your  crown  and  hasten  to  secure 
Remeses  in  power?" 

"  Is  it  not  enough  ?" 

"  No,  O  wise  and  virtuous  lady !"  I  answered,  with 
indignant  feelings  against  Moeris,  and  sympathy  for  her 
womanly  fears  ;  "  my  advice  to  you  is,  to  defy  the  malice 
and  wickedness  of  the  viceroy,  inform  Remeses  of  these 
letters — nay,  let  him  read  them — assemble  your  army, 
raid  meet  him  with  open  war.  A  row  of  galleys  sunk 
across  the  Nile  will  stop  his  fleet;  and  if  he  land,  your 
soldiers,  with  Remeses  at  their  head,  will  drive  him  back 
to  his  city  of  a  hundred  gates,  and — " 

Again  the  queen  interrupted  me: 

"  No,  no  !  I  cannot  tell  Remeses  !  He  must  never 
know  of  these  letters!"  she  almost  shrieked. 

"Has  Remeses  any  suspicion  of  the  tale  they  tell?"  I 
asked. 

"No.  He  knows  no  other  mother.  If  he  hears  this 
story,  he  will  investigate  it  to  the  last,  to  show  me  that 
he  would  prove  it  false  in  the  mouth  of  Moeris." 

"And  this  he  ought  to  do,  your  majesty,"  I  said, 
firmly. 

"  Prince  Sesostris,  dost  thou  believe  he  could  prove 
it  false  ?"  she  demanded,  in  a  mysterious  and  strange 
tone. 

"  Undoubtedly,"  I  answered ;  though,  my  dear  mother, 
I  could  not  wholly  resist  the  recollection,  which  forced 
itself  upon  me  most  sharply  and  painfully,  of  the  resem 
blance  I  had  noticed  between  Remeses  and  the  Hebrew 


392  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIKE,    Oli 

people.  But  I  banished  the  idea  it  suggested,  regard- 
ing  it  more  probable  for  an  Egyptian  and  Hebrew  to 
look  alike,  than  for  Remeses  to  have  been  born  a  He 
brew,  and  adopted  by  Pharaoh's  daughter.  Neverthe 
less,  there  was  apparent  to  myself  a  want  of  fulness  in 
my  tones  when  I  answered  her  "  undoubtedly." 

The  queen  came  close  up  to  me,  and  said  in  a  deep, 
terrible  whisper,  looking  first  wildly  around  her,  to  see 
if  any  one  overheard  her, — 

"  He  cannot  prove  it  false  /" 

"  You  mean,  O  queen,"  said  I,  "  that  though  Remeses 
cannot  prove  it  false,  it  nevertheless  is  false  ?" 

"  No.  It  cannot  be  proven  false,  because  it  is  TRUE  !" 
she  answered,  as  if  her  voice  came  from  within  a  sar 
cophagus. 

"  True  ?"  I  repeated,  with  horror. 

"  True,  O  prince  !  It  is  impossible  for  me  to  conceal 
or  prevaricate.  I  promised  to  confide  in  you ;  but  I 
have  kept  back  till  the  last  the  whole  truth  !  I  can  do 
so  no  longer !"  She  caught  by  my  arm  to  sustain  he: 
tottering  form. 

"  Is  not  Remeses,  then,  your  son  ?"  I  cried 

"No." 

" Is  he  a  Hebrew?" 

"Yes." 

"  Then  this  letter  of  Mceris  is  all  true  ?" 

"  All,  as  to  the  fact  that  Remeses  is  a  Hebrew !" 

Such  was  the  rapid  colloquy  which  followed.  O 
my  dear  mother,  no  mortal  can  estimate  the  amount  ot 
agony  which  overwhelmed  my  soul  at  this  intelligence ! 
I  sank  upon  the  pedestal  of  a  statue  near  me,  and  covering 
my  face  with  my  hands,  burst  into  tears.  The  queen 


ISRAEL   IN    BONDAGE.  393 

did  not  speak,  but  suffered  my  paroxysm  of  grief  and 
mortification  to  exhaust  itself.  At  length  I  raised  my 
head.  I  felt  for  her — felt,  oh  how  profoundly,  for  the 
unhappy  Remeses — ignorant  of  his  calamity,  and  en 
gaged,  even  then,  in  the  vigils  and  rites  which  were  tc 
prepare  him  to  ascend  the  throne !  I  could  now  under 
stand  all  that  had  been  inexplicable  in  the  queen's  con 
duct,  unravel  her  mysterious  language,  see  the  motive 
of  all  her  acts.  I  no  longer  marvelled  that  she,  loving 
Hemeses  with  all  a  mother's  love,  trembled  before  Moe 
ris  and  his  secret,  and  gave  him  all  he  demanded  as  the 
price  of  silence.  But  when  he  asked  for  her  throne  as  the 
bribe  for  secrecy,  it  was  more  than  her  spirit  could 
bear;  and  unable  alone,  unaided,  to  meet  him  in  his 
demand,  she  sought  counsel  of  me  and  sympathy ;  and 
little  by  little  made  known  to  me,  as  I  have  narrated, 
the  secret  she  would  have  sacrificed  her  life  to  conceal, 
if  she  could  thereby  have  concealed  it  forever  from 
Eemeses. 

"Poor,  noble,  unhappy  Remeses!"  I  ejaculated. 

"  He  must  never  know  it !"  she  cried,  passionately. 

"  It  will  be  known  to  him,"  I  answered,  sorrowfully. 
"  If  you  refuse  Prince  Moeris's  demand,  he  will  write 
another  such  missive  as  this,  and  dispatch  it  to  Remeses. 
The  prince,  if  I  may,  from  love,  still  call  him  so,  will, 
as  you  have  said,  examine  the  matter.  Mceris  will  refer 
him  to  the  ladies  Nilia  and  Thebia.  He  will  then 
come  to  you — " 

"To  me  ?"  she  cried,  with  a  shudder. 

"  To  you,  O  queen,  and  ask  of  you  if  Prince  Mceris 
and  these  women  relate  the  truth." 

"  He  would  not  believe — he  would  not  believe  it — BO 

17* 


391  THE   PILLAR   OF    FIRE    OR, 

far  as  to  come  to  me.     He  would  not  insult  me  by  mak 
ing  such  a  demand  of  me  !" 

"  He  may  be  forced  to  it.  Circumstances  may  over 
come  him,  so  that  he  will  feel  that  he  must  appeal  to 
you.  He  would  refuse  to  ascend  the  throne  of  Egypt, 
BO  high  is  his  integrity,  if  there  were  a  doubt  as  to  his 
legitimate  right  to  it." 

"O  prince,  counsel  me!  What  shall  I  do?"  she 
cried,  wringing  her  hands,  and  looking  towards  me  in 
the  most  appealing  and  helpless  manner. 

"I  know  not  how  to  counsel  your  majesty,"  I  replied, 
greatly  distressed,  my  heart  bleeding  both  for  her  and 
Kemeses,  who,  I  felt,  sooner  or  later,  must  come  to  the 
truth  of  the  dreadful  rumor ;  and  also  from  my  knowl 
edge  of  the  perfect  uprightness  and  justice  of  his  char 
acter,  as  well  as  his  firmness,  that  he  would  investigate 
it  until  he  either  disproved  or  verified  it. 

At  length,  after  a  long  and  painful  interval  of  embar 
rassment,  the  queen,  of  her  own  wTill,  said  to  me — 

"  Sesostris,  I  meant  no  wrong.     I  loved  the  weeping 
babe,  in  its  desolate  state,  and  no  sooner  did  I  take  it 
up  than  it  smiled,  and  won  my  heart.     You  know  the 
ffme  appearance  of  Remeses  as  a  man  ;  judge  you  there 
fore  how  lovely  he  wras  when  an  infant  three  months  old. 
^1  was  childless.     My  husband  had  been  a  few  weeks 
dead,  and  this  infant  seemed  to  be  sent  to  me  in  part  to 
fill  up  the  place  made  void  in  my  affections.     That  it 
wTas  a  Hebrew  child  did  not  move  me.     I  had  always 
(opposed  the  cruel  edict  of  the  king,  my  father ;  and  felt 
that,  to  save  this  child  of  the  oppressed  Hebrews,  would 
in  some  degree,  atone  for  the  death  of  so  many  who 
were  destroyed  in  obedience  to  his  orders.     Thus  I  was 


ISRAEL    IN   BONDAGE.  395 

influenced  by  a  threefold  motive — to  save  the  infant,  to 
adopl-a  BQivtouatone  for  evil." 

"  Good  and  lawful  motives,  O  qneen,"  I  said,  inter 
ested  in  her  narrative,  so  touchingly  told  as  to  deeply 
affect  me. 

"  I  did  not  believe  I  was  doing  evil.  I  at  once,  at 
the  suggestion  of  one  of  my  maids,  sent  a  Hebrew  girl, 
who  was  gazing  upon  us  from  afar,  to  call  a  nurse  from 
the  Hebrew  women  for  the  child.  She  brought  one, 
comely  and  gentle  in  manner,  whom  I  took  with  me  to 
the  palace ;  and,  after  instructing  her  to  keep  the  mat 
ter  a  secret,  suffered  her  to  take  the  child  home,  for  she 
lived  in  a  garden,  not  far  above  the  palace,  upon  the 
island,  her  father  being  a  cultivator  of  flowers  for  the 
priests.  The  tenderness  of  this  Hebrew  woman  towards 
the  beautiful  babe  pleased  me,  and,  after  I  had,  in  a 
public  manner,  acknowledged  the  child,  even  as  Mceris's 
letter  states,  I  let  it  remain  with  her  until  it  grew  to  be 
three  years  old,  when  I  commanded  her  to  bring  it  to 
tne^palace  to  remain ;  for  although  I  had  seen  it  almost 
daily,  I  now  desired  to  have  it  wholly  in  my  possession. 
From  that  time  he  has  been  brought  up  in  my  own 
palace,  as  my  son,  and  educated  as  prince  of  the  empire 
and  heir  to  the  throne.  For  all  my  care  and  affection, 
he  has  repaid  me  with  the  profoundest  devotion,  and  ten- 
d crest  attachment.  At  first,  seeing  he  was  very  fond  of 
his  Hebrew  nurse,  I  jealously  forbade  her  again  to  visit 
him,  so  that  I  might  be  the  sole  object  of  his  attach 
ment.  He  SOOI^J^£gpt  her,  and  from  his  fourth  year 
has  known  no  love  but  mine.  "When  he  came  to  man 
hood,  I  had  him  instructed  in  the  art  of  war,  and  made 
him  general  of  the  army  of  the  pyramids.  By  the 


396  THE  PILLAR  OF  FIRE,  OR 

greatest  philosophers  and  sages  lie  was  taught  geometry 
astrology,  architecture,  physics,  mythology,  and  the 
knowledge  of  all  science.  I  have  spared  no  care  to 
educate  him  in  all  the  learning  of  the  Egyptians.  With 
all  his  wisdom  and  vast  knowledge,  he  is  as  docile  and 
gentle  in  disposition  as  a  child :  ever  dutifully  submis 
sive  to  my  will,  the  voice  which  has  led  armies  by  its 
battle-cry,  melts  anto  tenderness  in  my  presence.  Ah, 
prince,  never  mother  loved  a  son  as  I  have  loved  him !" 

"I  pity  you,  O  queen,  with  all  my  heart,"  said  I, 
warmly. 

"  Oh,  what  shall  I  do  ?     What  shall  I  reply  to  Mceris  ?" 

"  I  know  not  how  to  counsel  you  !"  I  said,  embar 
rassed  by  this  appeal. 

"  I  will  then  act.  His  courier  shall  not  go  back  unan 
swered.  I  will  defy  him !"  A  new  spirit  seemed  all  at 
once  to  animate  her. 

She  clapped  her  hands.     A  page  entered. 

"  Bid  the  Theban  courier  enter.   His  answer  is  ready." 

The  master  of  horse  came  haughtily  in,  a  cloud  of  im 
patience  yet  upon  his  brow. 

"  Go  back  to  thy  master,  and  say  to  him,  that  Amense 
is  still  queen  of  Egypt,  and  wears  both  the  crowns  of 
her  fathers,  and  that  she  will  defend  them.  Say,  that  I 
defy  him,  and  fear  him  not !" 

The  courier  looked  amazed,  bowed  with  a  slight  ges 
ture  of  obeisance,  and  left  the  presence. 

No  sooner  had  the  valves  of  the  door  closed  upon 
him,  than  she  said — • 

"It  is  done  !  The  arrow  is  drawn  from  the  quiver, 
and  set  to  the  bowstring.  There  is  nothing  left  but  to 
defy  him,  and  trust  the  gods  to  aid  the  just  cause.  Ke 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  397 

meses  will  be  crowned  king,  ere  Moeris  can  get  my  mes 
sage  and  return  a  letter  to  him.  There  are  but  five 
days  more  to  the  end  of  the  forty.  Three  days  after 
wards  is  the  coronation.  That  is  nine  from  to-day.  It 
will  take  twelve  or  more  days  for  a  message  to  go  and 
come  from  the  camp  of  Moeris.  Three  days !  Time 
enough  to  make  or  mar  an  empire.  Sesostris,  this 
prince  of  Typhon,  this  haughty  Moeris,  shall  yet  be  con 
founded  !" 

Thus  speaking,  the  queen,  whose  whole  powers  were 
aroused  by  despair  linked  with  affection,  laid  her  hand 
in  mine,  bade  me  good-night — for  it  was  now  moonlight, 
so  long  had  we  discoursed — and  begged  me  come  in  the 
the  morning  and  breakfast  with  her. 

Here,  in  the  quiet  of  my  chamber,  dear  mother,  I 
have  made  a  record  of  this  extraordinary  interview. 
The  letter  I  shall  preserve  unless  it  be  necessary  to  de 
stroy  it ;  but  I  shall  not  send  it  to  you  until  the  seal  of 
secrecy  is  removed. 

What  can  I  say  ?  How  can  I  realize  that  Rerneses 
is  a  Hebrew  ?  How  little  he  suspects  the  truth  !  Will 
he  hear  it?  If  he  does;  but  it  is  useless  to  specu 
late  upon  the  consequences.  I  pray  that  he  may  be  well 
crowned  before  Moeris  can  do  him  any  mischief;  for,  son 
of  Misr,  or  son  of  Abram,  he  is  worthy  of  the  throne  of 
Egypt,  and  will  wield  its  sceptre  with  wisdom  and  just 
ice,  beyond  that  of  any  of  the  proud  Pharaohs.  The 
attachment  of  the  queen  is  natural.  I  deeply  feel  for 
her.  The  conduct  of  Moeris  is  also  natural.  What  will 
be  his  course  ?  Farewell,  dear  mother. 
Your  affectionate  son, 

SESOSTKTS. 


398  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIKE,    OR 


LETTEE    XXIY. 

PALACE  OF  KEMESES,  CITY  OF  Ox. 

MY  DEAREST  MOTHER  : 

I  COMMENCE  this  letter,  as  I  did  one  written  and 
addressed  to  you  two  days  ago,  with  the  probability,  that 
circumstances  may  yet  render  the  seal  of  secrecy,  now 
placed  upon  it,  unnecessary ;  at  least  I  shall  detain  both 
this  one  and  that,  for  a  time,  if  not  finally  destroy  them. 
But  I  have  a  feeling  that  you  will  yet  read  what  I  write. 

If  the  incidents  and  scenes  recorded,  in  the  preceding 
letter,  were  of  an  extraordinary  kind,  you  must  be  pre 
pared  to  read  in  this,  of  events  still  more  strange,  and 
painfully  interesting.  It  is  with  an  effort  that  I  calm 
-my  pulse,  and  subdue  my  emotions  sufficiently,  to  nar 
rate  equably  what  I  desire  to  make  known  to  you. 

The  morning  after  my  interview  with  the  queen,  I 
arose  early  from  a  sleepless  couch ;  for  the  events  of  the 
preceding  evening,  recalled  by  an  excited  mind,  kept 
me  awake  with  reflections  of  the  most  anxious  and  dis 
tressing  nature.  I  mourned  for  Remeses,  my  noble, 
wise,  and  great  friend  and  counsellor, — a  prince  by  na 
ture,  and  by  the  seal  of  all  the  gods,  if  not  by  inherit 
ance  from  the  Pharaohs.  Not  regarding  the  Hebrew 
race  wi.th  the  disdainful  eye  of  those  who  have  been 
masters  over  them,  like  the  Egyptians,  but  looking  upon 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  399 

them  only  as  an  unfortunate  nation,  descendants  of  the 
three  patriarchal  princes  of  Palestine,  I,  dear  mother, 
felt  no  contempt  for  Remeses  on  account  of  his  lineage 
and  blood.  To  me,  he  was  still  as  dear  arid  as  much 
honored.  It  was  not  the  "  prince"  I  loved  from  the  first, 
but  the  " man"  and  he  remains.  I  tossed  iny  head 
on  my  pillow,  grieving  for  him  ;  as  I  knew,  should  the 
tidings  ever  come  to  his  ears,  and  be  confirmed  as  a  truth, 
that  it  would  break  his  great  heart — crush  his  mighty 
soul  to  the  earth ;  for,  educated  as  an  Egyptian  prince, 
he  entertains  towards  the  Hebrews,  the  haughty  con 
tempt  (so  far  as  this  sentiment  can  repose  in  such  a 
benevolent  bosom),  which  characterizes  the  Egyptian 
nation.  How  will  he  be  humbled,  overwhelmed,  con 
founded,  dismayed  ! 

Such  were  my  wakeful  reflections,  when  at  length  the 
morning  dawned  ;  and  I  arose,  bathed,  and  prepared  to 
obey  the  command  of  the  queen  to  breakfast  with  her. 
Believing  that  she  must  have  passed  a  sorrowful  night, 
and  would  not  awake  early,  I  sat  down  to  read  in  a  roll 
of  papyrus  which  lay  upon  my  table,  among  other  books 
that  belonged  to  Remeses  ;  for  I  was  occupying  his  own 
suite  of  rooms  during  his  absence,  amid  the  sacred  mys 
teries  of  his  kingly  initiation.  It  proved  to  be  written 
in  the  Theban  running  character,  which  I  am  not  fa 
miliar  with,  and  laying  it  down,  I  took  up  a  leaf  of  new 
papyrus,  on  which  I  recognized  the  bold  and  elegant 
script  of  Remeses.  As  he  had  given  me  free  access  to 
all  upon  the  table,  I  examined  the  subject,  and  finding 
that  it  was  a  sacred  poem,  I  read  therein  a  few  sentences, 
when  I  perceived  that  it  was  the  history  of  a  remark 
able  era  in  the  life  of  the  venerable  Lore  of  IJz.  to  whom 


400  THE   PILLAR   OF    FIRE,    OR 

I  Lave  alluded.  This  aged  and  interesting  Syrian  haa 
already  takon  his  departure,  but  previously  made 
known  to  Remeses,  as  he  told  me,  all  the  events  con 
nected  with  an  extraordinary  period  of  his  middle  life. 

I  read,  therefore,  with  interest  what  Eemeses  had 
commenced  ;  for  it  was  only  a  beginning.  After  giving 
the  name  of  the  Lord  of  Uz,  and  that  of  the  land  in 
which  he  dwelt,  he  spoke  of  his  uprightness,  his  holiness, 
his  riches,  and  his  pious  care  over  his  children — who 
were  seven  sons  and  three  daughters ;  and  also  of  their 
happiness,  festivities,  and  prosperity ;  and  how,  by  the 
permission  of  the  One  God,  Typhon,  or  the  Spirit  of 
Evil,  tempted  him. 

Thus  far  had  my  friend  got  in  the  history,  and  I  was 
about  to  replace  the  scroll,  when  the  door  opened, 
and  lo !  Prince  Kemeses  himself  stood  before  me !  I 
started  with  an  exclamation  of  joyful  astonishment ;  but 
seeing  his  visage  haggard  and  pallid  with  woe,  I  was 
alarmed.  I  approached  him  to  embrace  him,  as  he 
stood  just  within  the  door,  regarding  me  with  looks  of 
doubt  and  solicitude. 

"  Wilt  thou,  O  Prince  of  Tyre,  embrace  a  Hebrew  ?" 
he  surprised  me  by  asking,  in  a  voice  deep  and  tremulous. 

"  Then  thou  knowest  it  all,"  I  cried,  "  O  my  friend  !" 
as  I  threw  myself  into  his  embrace. 

For  a  few  minutes  we  wept  in  each  other's  arms.  At 
length  he  spoke  and  said — 

"  Yes,  Sesostris,  I  have  heard  it  all !  Thou  knowest  the 

secret  also,  says  my  moth nay — I  forgot — I  should 

have  said — the  queen !"  Here  his  emotion  overcame 
him.  He  leaned  his  noble  head  upon  my  shoulder  and 
continued :  "  Yet  she  is  my  mother,  prince !  She  haa 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  401 

ever  been  a  mother  to  me  !  I  have  known  no  other  !  I 
shall  love  her,  while  my  life  lasts,  above  all  earthly  things. 
Pardon  my  grief,  Sesostris  !  Nature  is  mighty  in  sorrow, 
and  will  have  her  way  !  The  heart,  like  our  Nile,  will 
sometimes  overflow,  if  full." 

In  a  few  moments  he  was  composed,  and  said  sadly — 

u  Knowing  my  history,  can  yon  regard  me  as  before  ?" 

"  I  love  thee  as  ever,  O  prince — " 

He  interrupted  me — "  Call  me  not '  prince,'  call  me  by 
my  name — that,  at  least,  is  left  me  !  But  I  am  a  slave !" 

"  No — not  to  me !  You  are  a  descendant  of  kings  ! 
Are  not  Prince  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  the  great  Prince 
Jacob  your  ancestors  ?  I  am  not  an  Egyptian  any  more 
than  thyself,"  I  answered  him. 

"  True,  true  !  I  must  not  forget  that !  I  thank  thee, 
O  prince,  for  reminding  me  of  this.  A  slave  in  Egypt 
iT\ay  be  a  freeman  in  Tyre !" 

"  That  is  true  also,"  I  said.  "  May  I  ask,  O  Remeses, 
why  you  have  left  the  temples  and  are  here  ;  and  how 
you  heard  this  intelligence,  which  you  bear  up  under 
like  a  god?" 

"  I  am  calm  now ;  but,  Sesostris,  I  have  passed  through 
a  sirocco  of  the  soul !  You  shall  hear  all.  Come  and 
sit  here." 

I  placed  myself  by  the  table  opposite  to  him.  He 
then  began  as  follows  : 

"  I  need  not  describe  to  you,  O  my  friend,  the  nature 
of  the  rites  and  ceremonies,  nor  the  character  of  the 
mysteries  which  I  have  been  in  contact  with,  for  five- 
and-thirty  days  ;  let  it  be  enough  for  your  curiosity  to 
know,  that  beneath  all  the  splendor  of  our  polytheism  is 
hidden  the  mystery,  known  to  the  '  sons  of  the  Lord  of 


4:02  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

heaven,'  of  One  God.  This  truth  is  guarded  by  the 
mystics,  as  a  mystery,  not  as  a  doctrine ;  and  is  of  no 
value  to  them  nor  to  the  world :  it  is  as  if  the  sun 
were  forever  shrouded  in  impenetrable  clouds.  I  have 
learned  it  only  darkly  ;  but  this  is  not  to  my  purpose  now, 
my  friend :  perhaps  at  another  time  we  will  discourse 
of  these  things.  I  had  passed  my  decreed  days  and 
nights,  at  all  the  shrines  which  the  laws  for  kings  direct, 
when,  last  night,  I  was  borne  across  the  Nile  by  a 
company  of  the  mystics,  who  left  me  at  the  entrance  of 
the  avenue  leading  to  the  sphinx  that  is  before  Cheops 
and  Chephres.  There  twelve  other  ecclesiastical  mystics 
took  me  in  charge.  We  marched  together,  six  on  each 
side  of  me,  in  profound  silence ;  till,  on  passing  the  lion 
facing  the  sphinx,  their  leader  cried — 

"  '  Let  the  king  be  as  a  lion  in  strength  and  majesty  !' 

"  The  rest  answered  with  one  voice — 

"  '  And  may  his  enemies  be  as  lambs  beneath  his 
paws !' 

"  At  the  small  temple,  between  the  feet  of  the  sphinx, 
three  priests  stood,  one  of  whom  sprinkled  my  head 
with  sacred  water;  the  second,  with  his  little  finger 
that  had  been  dipped  in  the  blood  of  a  cock  which  he 
had  sacrificed,  touched  my  forehead ;  and  the  third 
waved  incense  before  me ; — while  from  within  came 
a  low,  plaintive  chant  of  voices  and  instruments,  in 
voking  the  gods  in  a  hymn  on  my  behalf.  The  whole 
scene  was  solemn  and  impressive. 

"  I  was  then  conducted  to  the  pylon  of  the  great 
temple  before  the  pyramids.  As  I  passed  beneath  the 
gate,  the  twelve  priests  left  me  ;  and  twenty-four  others, 
dressed  in  white  robes  and  bearing  torches,  took  me  in 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  403 

charge,  and  conducted  me  at  a  slow  march  across  the 
great  quadrangle,  leading  me  to  a  dark  portal  which 
descended,  as  I  was  told,  to  the  base  of  the  pyr 
amid,  down  to  the  '  hall  of  all  the  mysteries  of  the 
earth.'  " 

"  Is  not  this  the  temple  of  the  magicians  ?"  I  asked, 
gratified  to  see,  that  Remeses  could  for  a  moment  so  far 
forget  his  great  sorrow,  as  to  enter  into  these  details,  for 
my  gratification. 

"  Yes,  the  place  where  the  sorcerers  and  soothsayers 
hold  their  mystic  and  fearful  rites.  For  ages,  this  sub 
terranean  temple,  under  the  earth  between  the  two 
pyramids,  but  no  part  of  the  pyramidal  structure  itself, 
has  been  their  place  of  solemn  assembly.  Into  this 
region  I  descended,  led  by  only  two  men,  who  received 
me  at  the  head  of  the  stairs  of  stone. 

"  But  I  may  not  describe,  more  particularly,  the  pro 
gress  of  my  mysterious  journey  through  subterranean 
passages,  which  I  had  no  conception  existed  beneath  the 
space  between  the  two  pyramids ;  although  tradition  has 
it,  that  the  whole  territory  underneath  both  is  a  labyrin 
thine  catacomb,  which  assertion  I  have  now  no  reason 
to  doubt.  After  traversing  vast  gloomy  corridors  of 
pillars  hewn  from  the  solid  rock,  and  a  succession  of 
chambers  dedicated  to  mysteries,  I  was  ushered,  by  the 
sound  of  awful  music, .from  an  unseen  source,  into  a  great 
central  temple,  so  large  that  the  torches  borne  by  my 
guides,  could  not  penetrate  its  outer  blackness.  In  the 
centre  of  this  solemn  hall  strod  an  altar  of  black  marble. 
We  approached  it,  when  suddenly  from  it  soared  aloft  a 
bright  flame  which  illumined  the  temple,  to  its  remotest 
obscurities,  with  a  light  like  the  moon  when  it  is  full, 


4:04:  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

revealing  in  the  height  above,  a  firmament  with  its  thou 
sand  stars  reflecting  the  light.  I  had  already,  my  Sesos- 
tris,  passed  through  such  varied  and  surprising  scenes, 
in  the  progress  of  my  initiation,  that  I  was  not  surprised 
at  this,  for  the  arts  of  the  priestly  magicians  seem  to  em 
brace  a  knowledge  of  all  the  secret  alchemy  of  nature  ; 
and  they  possess  wisdom  and  skill  to  control  her  won 
derful  powers.  While  this  brilliant  flame  burned  from 
a  brazen  vase  which  stood  upon  the  altar,  a  procession 
of  figures  entered  by  a  distant  door,  and  slowly  made 
the  circuit  of  the  massive  corridor.  I  perceived  at  once 
that  they  were  attired  symbolically,  representing  the 
powers  of  nature,  and  were  preceded  by  five  stately  and 
imposing  forms  standing  for  fire,  water,  earth,  air,  and 
the  Nile  ;  symbols  of  which  were  worn  upon  their  heads, 
and  carried  in  their  hands.  Behind  these  came  seven 
persons,  each  crowned  with  a  star,  the  whole  represent 
ing  the  seven  stars.  Then  advanced  Orion,  belted  and 
armed ;  Arcturus,  Aldebaran,  Procyon,  Rigel,  and  An- 
tares,  each  with  a  blazing  coronet  above  his  brow,  and 
carrying  the  symbols  and  wearing  the  dress  of  the  god. 
These,  with  an  interval  of  space  between,  were  followed 
by  the  twelve  constellations  of  the  zodiac  ;  each  zodiac 
consisting  of  twelve  bands  of  men,  subdivided  into 
twenty-four  smaller  companies,  and  so  moving,  each  in 
a  place  assigned  him,  as  to  show  the  position  of  every 
star  of  the  constellation,  which  he  was  appointed  to  aid 
in  illustrating.  Each  individual  carried  above  his  head 
a  starry  light,  inclosed  in  a  crystal  cup. 

"This  imposing  and  magnificent  representation  and 
illustration  of  the  march  of  Time  through  the  heavens, 
with  all  the  movements  of  the  heavenly  orbs,  presented 


ISRAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  405 

a  spectacle  of  splendor  unsurpassed  by  any  human  dis 
play.  Solemn  as  the  march  of  the  stars  themselves,  this 
procession  of  constellations  moved  once  around  the 
grand  circuit  of  the  temple,  and  then  the  five  leaders 
advanced  towards  the  altar,  by  which  I  stood  alone,  de 
serted  by  those  who  had  led  me  thither.  Every  one  of 
these  symbolic  persons  in  succession  bent  the  knee  be 
fore  me,  in  token  that  the  powers  of  the  earth,  air,  fire, 
and  water,  with  the  great  Kile  itself,  were  submissive 
to  my  .will.  Ah,  Sesostris, "  interspoke  Remeses  here, 
"  how  little  did  they  suspect,  when  paying  me  this  cus 
tomary  homage,  that  I  was  a  mere  Hebrew  slave,  who 
could  make  use  of  the  air,  of  fire,  of  water,  of  the  earth, 
or  of  the  Nile,  only  by  the  permission  of  my  Egyptian 
masters! 

"  Other  striking  ceremonies  passed  thereafter,  and  by 
and  by  I  was  left  alone  beside  the  altar,  the  flame  of 
which  it  was  my  duty  to  feed  with  naphtha  until  morn 
ing,  this  being  the  first  vigil  of  the  last  five  nights.  I 
was  not,  however,  long  left  alone.  Seven  magicians,  in 
their  gorgeous  apparel,  came  from  a  door  that  seemed 
to  be  an  outlet  from  beneath  the  second  pyramid,  and 
approached  me,  chanting  a  war-song.  Each  bore  a  piece 
of  royal  armor, — one  a  helmet,  one  a  cuirass,  one  a  spear, 
another  a  shield.  As  they  passed  me  they  presented, 
and  I  received  from  each,  a  piece  of  the  armor,  and  in 
vested  myself  therewith.  I  was  told  by  the  leader  to 
be  strong  and  fight  valiantly,  for  I  should  be  assailed 
by  powers  of  evil.  They  then  left  me,  and  again  I 
was  alone,  yet  on  my  guard.  Feeding  the  flame  till 
it  burned  high,  I  sought  to  penetrate  the  gloom,  at  least 
expecting  to  behold  a  lion  let  into  the  temple  for  me 


4:06  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

to  combat  with,  that  I  might  prove  my  right  to  the 
sword  of  the  Pharaohs  which  I  held  in  my  grasp. 

"  I  know  not,  Sesostris,  who  or  what  wTould  have  been 
my  assailant,  if  due  time  had  elapsed  for  his  coming  ; 
but  I  suddenly  heard  a  step  behind  me,  and  behold,  in 
stead  of  a  fierce  beast  or  a  warrior,  a  single  magician, 
tall  and  commanding,  who  bore  in  one  hand  merely  the 
sacred  crux  or  emblem  of  life,  and  in  the  other  his  black 
wand  tipped  with  an  emerald.  I  challenged  him,  as  I 
was  directed  to  do  by  my  instructors,  and  demanded 
whether  he  came  for  good  or  evil,  with  war  or  peace  in 
his  heart. 

"  He  made  no  other  reply  than — 

"'Follow  me!' 

"  I  obeyed.  Ah,  how  little  did  I  suspect,  O  Sesostris, 
that  I  was  about  to  encounter  what  was  more  fearfu] 
than  a  roaring  lion, — more  terrible  than  an  armed  host ! 
But  yon  shall  hear. 

"  I  crossed  the  echoirrg  temple-floor  to  a  small  portal, 
which  at  first  did  not  reveal  its  presence,  being  a  slab 
in  the  wall,  but  which,  at  a  slight  pressure  of  the 
magician's  wand,  betrayed  an  opening  through  which 
we  passed, — I,  with  my  sword  held  in  my  hand  to  de 
fend  or  attack.  The  stone  door  closed  behind  me,  and 
I  was  conducted  through  a  beautiful  chamber,  adorned 
with  marbles,  and  sparkling  with  precious  stones,  that 
seemed  to  shine  by  a  light  of  their  own,  as  I  could  dis 
cover  no  source  of  reflection ;  though  doubtless,  how 
ever,  that  was,  in  some  part,  concealed  by  the  art  of 
these  ingenious  and  wise  magicians. 

"There  was  an  inner  chamber,  or  adytum,  entirely 
encased  with  panels  of  black  marble,  polished  like  a 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  407 

mirror.  I  was  conducted  into  this  room,  and  command 
ed,  by  a  voice  unknown,  and  from  an  invisible  person, 
to  seat  myself  upon  a  stone  chair  in  the  centre  of  the 
floor.  I  obeyed  ;  for  princes,  during  their  initiation,  are 
taught  constantly,  that  '  he  who  would  know  how  to 
command  must  learn  how  to  obey ;'  and  thus,  in  these 
rites,  submission  and  obedience  are  inculcated,  as  neces 
sary  elements  in  the  character  of  one  who  wishes  to 
exact  them  from  others.  Indeed,  Sesostris,  the  whole 
routine  of  the  ceremonies,  though  sometimes  vain  and 
frivolous,  sometimes  extravagant,  is  calculated  to  impress 
upon  the  heart  of  a  prince  the  wisest  lessons  in  self- 
government,  and  the  profoundest  knowledge  of  himself. 
Every  temptation  is  offered  him,  that  he  may  resist  it. 
Every  condition  of  life,  from  hunger  and  thirst  upward, 
he  pass.es  through  in  his  progress.  Three  nights  arid 
days  I  fcsted  in  the  temple  of  Pthah,  that  I  might  pity 
the  hungry  :  two  days  I  suffered  thirst,  that  I  might  feel 
for  the  thirsty  :  six  hours  I  toiled  with  burdens,  that  I 
might  know  how  my  poorer  subjects  toiled:  one  hour  I 
was  a  servant,  another  a  prisoner,  a  third  cup-bearer  to 
the  high-priest.  Every  rite  is  a  link  in  the  practical 
education  of  a  prince  ;  and  he  who  comes  to  the  throne, 
has  reached  it  through  every  grade  of  society,  and 
through  every  condition  of  humanity ;  and  thus  the 
king  centres  and  unites  within  his  own  person,  from 
having  been  engaged  in  each,  the  pursuits  of  all  his 
people,  and  knows  by  experience  their  joys  and  sorrows, 
toils  and  pleasures ;  and  can  say  to  every  class  of 
Egyptians,  'there  is  nothing  wThich  appertains  to  you  that 
is  foreign  to  me.  The  people  of  Egypt  are  represented 
in  their  king.' 


408  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

"  When  I  had  taken  my  seat  in  this  chamber  of  black 
marble,  which  was  dimly  lighted  by  a  misty  radiance 
before  me,  I  saw  that  I  was  alone.  Now,  O  Sesostris, 
came  my  trial ! — such  an  one  as  no  prince  of  the  house 
of  Pharaoh  had  ever  passed  through.  It  is  said  that 
Osirtasen,  when  he  was  brought  to  this  chamber,  had  it 
revealed  to  him  that  he  was  the  son  of  the  god  Hercules ; 
but  to  me  was  revealed,  alas !  thou  knowest  what,  and 
ehalt  hear  how ! 

"  '  Remeses-Moses,'  said  a  deep  and  stern  voice  from 
what,  in  the  obscurity,  seemed  to  me  a  shrine,  '  thou  art 
•  wise,  and  virtuous,  and  strong  of  heart !  Gird  thyself 
with  courage,  and  hear  what  is  to  be  revealed  to  thee ! 
Know  that  thou  art  not  the  son  of  Amense,  queen  of 
Egypt,  as  thou  believest.  She  was  never  a  mother  !' 

"  '  It  is  false,  thou  wicked  magician !'  I  cried,  starting 
to  my  feet.  '  Art  thou,  then,  .the  foe  I  am  to  meet  and 
destroy  ?' 

" '  Silence,  young  man !'  cried  another  voice,  with  a 
tone  of  power.  i  What  the  mysterious  oracle  utters  is 
true.  Thou  art  not  the  son  of  Pharaoh's  daughter ! 
Thou  hast  no  title  to  the  throne  of  Egypt !' 

£•' '  Who  am  I,  then  ?'  I  cried,  impressed  and  awed,  ye? 
1  of  anger  at  the  words. 

"  'Thou  art  the  son  of  a  Hebrew  mother  and  a  Hebiew 
father !'  said  the  voice. 

"  I  advanced  sword  in  hand  to  meet  these  invisible 
persons,  believing  that  the  insult  wTas  but  another  of  the 
series  of  tests,  and  this  one  in  particular,  of  my  patience 
and  temper ;  for,  O  Sesostris,"  added  Remeses  to  me, 
bitterly,  "  what  greater  insult  could  have  been  put  upon 
a  prince  of  Egypt  than  this !  When  I  came  forward,  I 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  409 

saw  the  wall,  as  it  were,  open  before  me ;  and  I  beheld 
the  Nile  in  bright  sunshine  ;  the  Island  of  Rhoda,  with 
its  palaces  arid  gardens ;  the  distant  towers  and  obelisks 
of  On,  and  all  the  scenery  adjacent,  but  seemingly  so 
near,  that  I  could  lay  my  hand  upon  it  all. 

"  At  this  surprising  spectacle  manifesting  itself  in 
the  dark  chambers  of  the  pyramids,  I  stood  amazed 
and  arrested !  I  felt  that  it  was  supernatural,  or  pro 
duced  by  magic.  As  I  gazed,  perplexed,  a  third  voice 
said — 

"  '  Behold !  Thou  seest  that  the  obelisk  of  Amense  is 
wanting ;  •  that  the  palace  of  the  governor  of  the  Nile 
has  only  its  foundations  laid.  The  scene  is,  as  Egypt  was 
thirty-five  years  ago.' 

"  I  looked  again,  and  recognized  the  truth.  I  saw  it 
was  not  the  Nile  of  to-day.  I  saw,  also,  that  its  stream 
was  at  a  height,  different  from  its  present  mark  upon  the 
nilometer.  I  was  amazed,  and  awaited  with  intense  ex 
pectation.  Suddenly  I  saw  a  party  of  spearmen  enter 
a  hut,  which  I  perceived  was  one  of  a  group  that  was 
occupied  by  Hebrew  workmen,  who  were  engaged  upon 
the  governor's  palace.  Presently  they  came  forth,  two 
of  them,  each  bearing  an  infant  aloft  upon  a  spear, 
which  was  thrust  through  it,  and  followed  by  shrieking 
women.  I  could  hear  and  see  all  as  if  I  were  on  the  spot. 
I  impulsively  advanced  to  slay  the  men,  for  all  seemed 
so  real,  but  as  I  did  so,  saw  at  my  feet  a  yawning  gulf. 
Then  the  men  cast  the  infants  into  the  Nile.  I  saw  three 
others  go  into  another  hut,  whence  they  were  driven 
forth  by  two  desperate  Hebrews,  who,  armed  with 
straw-cutters,  sle^w  two  of  them  ;  but  the  other  fled,  and 
returning  with  his  comrades,  they  set  fire  to  the  hut  of 

18 


410  THE  PILLAR  OF  FIRE,  OR 

rushes,  and  consumed  the  inmates  within  it.  I  now  per 
ceived  that  it  seemed  drawing  towards  the  close  of  day. 
From  a  hut,  near  the  water,  a  man  and  a  young  girl, 
.both  Hebrews,  stole  forth,  and  collecting  bulrushes  in 
their  arms,  returned  to  the  hut.  It  was  now  night.  I 
had  seen  the  shades  of  evening  fall  over  the  scenery, 
and  the  stars  come  out.  Yet,  by  a  power  incompre 
hensible  to  me,  I  could  look  into  the  closed  and  barred 
hut,  and  see  that,  by  the  light  of  a  rush  dipped  in  bitu 
men,  three  of  its  inmates  were  making,  in  secret  haste,  a 
large  basket.  I  saw  them  finish  it,  and  then  beheld  the 
man  smear  it  within  and  without  with  pitch.  From 
their  conversation,  I  learned  that  they  wished  it  to  resist 
water,  and  that  they  were  to  commit  some  precious 
freight  to  its  frail  protection  ;  what,  I  could  not  leam  ; 
as,  when  they  spoke  of  it,  their  colloquy  was  in  low, 
hushed  tones,  and  with  looks  of  fear,  especially  the  two 
females,  who  wept  very  much.  One  of  them,  I  learned 
by  their  words,  was  the  daughter  of  the  man  by  a 
former  wife.  There  wras  another  child,  a  boy  apparently 
of  the  age  of  three  years,  lying  in  sweet  sleep  upon  a  bed 
of  rushes,  made  up  in  a  corner  of  the  hut.  When  the 
little  ark  was  done,  I  watched  with  the  deepest  interest 
their  further  proceedings.  At  length  the  three  went  out 
together,  and  to  my  surprise  I  saw,  by  the  setting  moon, 
that  it  was  near  dawn.  They  bent  their  steps,  swiftly 
and  silently,  towards  the  ancient  temple  of  Isis,  wThich 
was  then,  as  now,  in  ruins,  and  deserted  by  every  Egyp 
tian,  for  the  sacrilege  done  therein  under  the  reign  of 
Bnon,  the  Phoenician  Pharaoh.  I  could  see  them  steal 
along  the  tangled  avenue  beneath  the  palm-trees,  and 
through  that  of  the  broken  sphinxes,  until  they  came 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  411 

to  the  pyramidion  of  the  obelisk  of  Sesostris  1.  Here 
a  deep,  ancient  excavation,  covered  with  vines  and 
rushes,  showed  a  flight  of  broken  steps.  After  care 
fully  looking  all  about,  to  see  if  they  were  observed, 
they  descended.  In  a  few  minutes  the  three  came 
forth,  the  elderly  woman  holding  in  her  arms  an  infant, 
upon  the  beautiful  face  of  which  the  waning  moon 
shone  for  a  moment,  but  instantly  she  hid  it  with  her 
mantle,  and  hurried  to  the  river-side.  Here  the  man 
put  the  basket  upon  the  shore,  and  extended  his  arms 
for  the  child.  The  poor  mother,  as  I  now  perceived  she 
must  be,  burst  into  tears,  and  clasped  it  closer  and 
closer  to  her  heart. 

"  c  Nay,  Jochebeda,'  he  said,  wTith  gentle  firmness, 
Hhy  cries  will  attract  notice.  The  child  cannot  live  ii 
we  delay.  Hast  thou  not  had  warning  from  the  kind 
Egyptian  woman,  who  was  with  thee  when  it  was  born, 
and  who  aided  thee  in  concealing  it,  that  its  hiding- 
place  is  known,  and  that  in  the  morning  soldiers  will  be 
there  ?  Bear  up,  heart !  If  we  commit  it  to  the  Nile, 
the  God  of  our  fathers,  in  whom  we  trust,  and  who  will 
yet  return,  to  redeem  us,  according  to  His  promise  to 
our  father  Abraham,  may  guide^the  frail  baris  to  some 
secure  haven,  and  provide  for  the  child  a  pitiful  heart 
to  save  it.' 

i"I  saw  the  mother  give  it  its  last  nourishment  at  her 
breast,  and  then,  with  tears,  lay  it  softly,  sweetly  sleep 
ing  the  while,  within  the  basket  cf  bulrushes, — pillow 
ing  its  head  first  upon  her  hand,  until  the  daughter  had 
placed  beneath  it  a  pillow  of  wild-flowers  and  lotus- 
leaves,  gathered  on  the  spot  in  the  dawning  light.  The 
father  then  covered  it  carefully  over,  and  kissing  it,  with 


THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

grief  shaking  his  strong  frame,  was  about  to  commit  the 
frail  boat  to  the  water,  when  the  poor  mother  arrested 
his  arm,  implored  one  more  look,  one  more  embrace  of 
/  her  child !  She  was  a  young  and  beautiful  woman ; 
"and,  the  last  kiss  given,  kneeled  by  the  shore  praying  to 
her  God,  as  the  father  launched  the  ark  into  the  stream. 
At  this  moment,  I  beheld,  straying  upon  the  bank,  as  if 
seeking  its  parents,  the  other  child  that  I  had  seen  in  the 
house.  I  now  saw  the  current  take  to  its  embrace  the 
little  ark,  and  upon  its  bosom  bear  it  downward.  In  a 
few  moments  it  lodged  amid  some  rushes,  wrhich  the 
mother  seeing,  she  ran  hastily,  entered  the  water,  pas 
sionately  kissed  her  child,  and  would  have  offered  it 
the  breast  again,  but  the  more  resolute  father  sent  it 
once  more  upon  its  way.  In  the  vision,  I  now  saw  that 
day  had  dawned,  and  that  the  stir  of  life  on  land  and 
water  was  everywhere  visible.  The  father  watched  the 
bark,  until  it  could  be  no  longer  seen  for  the  curve  of 
the  shore,  and  then  drew  near  to  his  wife,  and  gently 
led  her  away  to  the  hut, — her  lingering  looks  ceaselessly 
stretched  towards  the  Nile.  The  little  maid,  who  was 
not  more  than  twelve  or  thirteen  years  of  age,  having 
been  previously  instructed  by  her  mother,  )  followed 
along  the  shore  to  see  what  would  become  of  the  ark. 
But  I  weary  you,  Sesostris,  with  details,  which  to  me 
had  a  sort  of  fascination,  as  they  were  enacted  before 
me  in  the  scenes  I  beheld." 

"  And  they  are  deeply  interesting  to  me,  rny  dear 
Ilemeses,"  I  said  with  emotion. 

"  I  followed  the  bark  also,"  Continued  Ilemeses,  "  until, 
after  several  escapes  from  imminent  peril,  it  lodged 
against  a  group  of  flags,  at  the  moment  that  a  beautiful 


ISRAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  413 

lady,  accompanied  by  her  maids,  came  to  bathe,  at  the 
foot  of  the  garden  of  Pharaoh's  palace.  At  a  glance, 
Sesostris,  I  recognized,  as  she  was  in  her  youth,  my 
mother — I  mean  to  say,  the  Queen  Amense.  I  saw  her 
attention  drawn  to  the  little  ark,  in  the  fate  of  which  I 
had  become  intensely  interested,  little  dreaming  how 
much  and  intimately  it  concerned  me!  I  heard  her 
bid  the  maids  take  the  basket  out  of  the  river,  and 
her  cry  of  surprise,  on  opening  it  and  seeing  the  babe, 
which  answered  her  with  a  sorrowful  wail,  as  it  were, 
of  appeal.  I  saw  her  offer  it  to  the  bosoms  of  three 
Egyptian  nurses  in  vain,  when  the  little  maid,  itrf  half- 
sister,  drew  near  with  mingled  curiosity  and  fear,  and 
said — 

"  <  O  princess,  shall  I  call  one  of  the  Hebrew  women, 
that  she  may  nurse  the  child  for  thee  ?' 

"  The  princess  said,  *  Go  !' 

"  Immediately  the  maiden  ran  with  the  swiftness  of  a 
gazelle,  until  she  came  at  length  to  her  mother's  house. 
The  poor  Hebrew  woman  was  at  her  task,  combing  flax 
and  weeping  as  she  toiled,  feeling  that  she  had  parted 
with  her  child  forever.  At  the  height  of  her  grief,  the 
young  maid  flew  in  at  the  door,  crying  with  a  voice 
choked  with  joy — 

"  '  Mother,  run  quickly  !  make  no  stay !  Pharaoh's 
daughter  has  found  my  little  brother,  taken  it  from  the 
ark,  and  sent  me  for  a  Hebrew  nurse  !  Come  quickly, 
before  any  other  is  found  !' 

"  With  a  cry  of  joy,  and  with  hands  clasped  to  heaven 
in  gratitude,  I  saw  the  mother  about  to  rush  out,  wild 
with  happiness,  when  her  daughter  said,  '  Be  calm, 
mother,  or  the  princess  will  suspect  Put  on  your  coif 


414  THE  PILLAR  OF  FIRE,  OR 

Arrange  your  dress !    Seem  quiet,  as  if  you  were  not  its 
mother !' 

"  '  I  will  try  to  do  so — oh,  I  will  try  to  do  so  !'  she 
said  touchingly.  I  saw  that,  in  her  emotion,  she  did 
not  think  of  her  other  boy,  who,  though  hardly  four  years 
old,  had  followed  the  stream,  as  if  he  understood  what 
the  ark  contained.  Him  I  saw  kindly  taken  pity  upon 
by  an  Egyptian  priest,  who  carried  him  away  to  his 
house." 

Here  I  uttered  an  exclamation  which  attracted  the 
notice  of  Remeses ;  for  I  recollected  th'e  story  of  the 
young  Hebrew  ecclesiastic  and  gold  image-caster,  dear 
mother,  and  saw  now  that  he  was  this  brother  of  Ke- 
meses,  and  the  mystery  of  the  resemblance  was  solved. 
I  did  not  make  any  remark  to  Kemeses,  however,  in 
reply  to  his  inquiring  look,  and  he  resumed  his  wonder 
ful  narrative. 

But  I  will  continue  the  subject,  dear  mother,  in  a 
subsequent  letter. 

SESOSTEIS. 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  415 


LETTER    XXV. 

PALACE  OF  EEMESES,  CITY  OF  ON. 

Mr  WEAKEST  MOTHER  : 

YOUB  courier  readied  me  yesterday  with  your 
important  letter,  advising  me  of  the  refusal  of  the 
King  of  Cyprus  to  receive  your  ambassador,  or  release 
your  subjects  ;  and  that  you  only  await  my  return  to  de 
clare  war.  I  shall  not  fail  to  respond  to  your  call,  and 
will  next  week  leave  Egypt  for  Syria.  I  have  not  yet 
visited  the  Thebaid,  and  the  superb  temples  of  Upper 
Egypt,  nor  seen  the  wonderful  Labyrinth,  nor  the  Cata 
racts  ;  but  I  hope  at  some  future  day  to  revisit  this  in 
teresting  land.  I  feel,  indeed,  rejoiced  to  go  away  now, 
as  the  painful  and  "extraordinary  events  connected  with 
Bemeses  have  cast  a  gloom  over  all  things  here,  and 
change'd  all  my  plans. 

But  I  will  resume  the  narrative,  interrupted  by  the 
abrupt  ending  of  my  last  letter.  That,  with  the  prece 
ding,  as  well  as  this,  I  shall  now  send  to  you,  as  the  seal 
of  secrecy  is  removed  from  them,  by  the  publicity  which 
has  been  given  to  all  the  events  by  Hemeses. 

To  return,  dear  mother,  to  the  account  of  the  scenes 
which  the  magicians  presented  to  his  vision,  in  the 
black  marble  chamber  of  the  pyramid. 


416  THE   PILLAR  OF   FIRE,    OR 

"I  now,"  continued  Kemeses,  "beheld  the  excited 
mother  reach  the  presence  of  the  princess,  trying  to 
calm  the  wild  tumult  of  hope  and  fear  in  her  maternal 
bosom ;  and  to  her,  I  saw  the  princess,  after  many  in 
quiries,  commit  the  charge  of  the  infant. 

"  i  I  shall  adopt  this  child,  O  nurse,'  she  said ;  <  bring 
it,  therefore,  to  the  palace  daily  that  I  may  see  it.  Take 
as  faithful  care  of  it  as  if  it  were  your  own,  and  you 
shall  be  rewarded  with  my  favor,  as  well  as  with  a 
nurse's  wages.' 

"  The  joyful  Hebrew  woman  tried  to  repress  her  hap 
piness,  and  trembled  so,  that  the  princess  said — 

"'Thou  art  awkward.  Carry  it  tenderly;  and  see 
that  thou  keep  this  secret  closely,  or  I  shall  take  the  boy 
away  from  thee,  woman,  and  also  punish  thee.  What 
is  thy  name  ?' 

"  '  Jochebeda,'  she  answered. 

"  « And  thy  husband's  ?' 

"  ( Amram,  your  majesty,'  she  replied. 

"I  saw  her,  O  Sesostris,  when  she  had  well  got  out 
of  the  princess's  sight,  clasp,  by  stealth,  her  recovered 
child  to  her  bosom,  while  words  of  tenderness  were  in 
her  mouth,  and  her  eyes  streaming  with  tears  of  grati 
tude  and  wonder. 

"  That  child,  O  Sesostris,  w^s  myself  1"  suddenly  ex 
claimed  Remeses.  "  Of  this  you  have  already  been 
convinced.  I  saw  the  scene  before  me,  rapidly  change 
from  day  to  night,  and  months  and  years  fly  by  like  a 
cloud,  or  like  a  fleet  of  ships  leaidng  no  trace  of  their 
track  on  the  closing  waters.  Through  all  I  saw  myself, 
from  the  infant  of  three  years  old,  taken  into  the  palace 
from  my  Hebrew  mother,  to  the  boy  of  twelve — to  tho 


ISKAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  417 

youth  of  twenty !  Like  the  cycle  of  fate,  that  scene 
rolled  by  before  my  eyes,  until  I  saw.  myself,  that  is,  the 
Hebrew  boy,  in  every  scene  of  my  life  up  to  the  very 
rroment  then  present.  Then,  with  a  sound  of  mournful 
music,  the  Nile  and  its  scenes  slowly  faded  from  before 
my  vision,  and  I  was  alone !  The  whole  fearful  history 
had  terminated  in  me,  and  left  me  standing  there  in 
solitude,  to  reflect  upon  what  I  had  seen. 

"Rousing  myself  from  my  stupor  of  amazement,  I 
staggered  back,  and  sunk  in  horror  upon  the  stone 
bench.  I  know  not  how  long  I  lay  there,  but  I  was 
at  length  aroused  by  a  hand  upon  my  shoulder ;  I 
looked  up  and  beheld  the  magician  with  the  emblem 
of  life,  and  the  emerald-tipped  wand.  He  said — 

"  '  My  son,  thou  hast  read  the  past  of  thy  life  !  Wilt 
thou  still  be  King  of  Egypt  ?' 

"  '  By  what  power  hast  thou  opened  the  gates  of  the 
past  ?  How  hast  thou  known  all  this  ?'  I  cried,  with  a 
heart  of  despair. 

"  '  Dost  thou  believe  ?' 

" '  As  if  the  open  Book  of  Thoth  lay  before  me !  1 
doubt  not,'  I  answered. 

"  '  Wilt  thou  be  King  of  Egypt  ?'  again  asked  another 
voice.  A  third,  in  another  direction,  took  it  up,  and 
every  subterranean  echo  of  the  vaulted  pyramid  seemed 
to  take  up  the  cry.  I  rushed  from  the  hall,  not  know 
ing  whither  I  went.  Doors  seemed  to  open  before 
me,  as  if  by  magic,  and  I  at  length  found  mysqlf  emerg 
ing,  guided  by  the  magician,  into  the  open  night.  The 
granite  valves  of  the  gate  closed  behind  me,  and  I  was 
alone,  in  the  quadrangle  of  the  great  temple  of  Thoth. 
The  stars  shone  down  upon  me  like  mocking  eyefj, 

18* 


418  THE  PILLAK  OF  FIRE,  OR 

watching  me.  I  fled  onward,  as  if  I  would  fly  from 
myself.  I  feared  to  reflect.  I  passed  the  sphinx,  the 
pylones,  the  obelisks  ;  and  ran  along  the  avenue  of  the 
Lake  of  the  Dead,  until  I  reached  the  Nile.  I  crossed 
it  in  a  boat  that  I  found  upon  the  shore,  and  without 
having  formed  any  clear  idea  of  what  I  ought  to  do, 
sought  the  palace,  and  gained  rny  mother's  ante-room. 
Did  I  say  '  my  mother,'  Sesostris  ?  I  meant  the  ^ood 
queen.  I  sent  in  a  page  to  say  I  wished  to  see  her.  In 
surprise  at  my  return,  before  the  forty  days  were  ful 
filled,  she  came  to  the  door  hurriedly,  in  her  night-robe, 
and  opened  it.  I  entered  as  calmly  as  I  could,  and  did 
not  refuse  her  kiss,  though  I  knew  I  was  but  a  Hebrew ! 
One  night's  scenes,  dreadful  as  they  were,  O  Sesostris, 
could  not  wholly  break  the  ties  of  a  lifetime  of  filial 
love  and  reverence.  I  closed  the  door,  secured  it  in 
silence,  and  then  sat  down,  weary  with  what  I  had  un 
dergone  ;  and,  as  she  came  near  and  knelt  by  me,  and 
laid  her  hand  against  my  forehead,  and  asked  me  '  if  I 
were  ill,  and  hence  had  left  the  temple,'  I  was  over 
come  with  her  kindness ;  and  when  the  reflection  forced 
itself  upon  me  that  T  could  no  more  call  her  mother,  or 
be  entitled  to  these  acts  of  maternal  solicitude,  I  gave 
way  to  the  strong  current  of  emotion,  and  fell  upon  her 
shoulc^r,  weeping  as  heartily  as  she  had  seen  me  weep 
whenTying  in  the  little  ark  a  helpless  infant. 

"  During  this  brief  moment,  a  suspicion  flashed  across 
my  mind,  that  the  magicians  might  have  produced  this 
as  a  part  of  my  trial  as  a  prince  ; — that  it  was  not  real, 
but  that  by  their  wonderful  arts  of  magic  they  had  made 
it  appear  so  to  my  vision.  I  seized  upon  this  idea,  as  a 
man  drowning  in  the  Nile  grasps  at  a  floating  flower. 


ISRAEL   IN"   BONDAGE.  419 

"  '  Mother,'  I  said,  '  I  am  ill.  I  am  also  very  sorrow 
ful!' 

"  '  The  tasks  and  toils  of  thy  initiation,  my  son,  have 
been  too  great  for  thee.  Thy  face  is  haggard  and  thy 
looks  unnatural.  What  is  thy  sorrow  V 

"  '  I  have  had  a  vision,  or  what  was  like  a  dream,  my 
mother.  I  saw  an  infant,  in  this  vision,  before  me, 
placed  in  an  ark,  and  set  adrift  upon  the  Kile.  Lo,  after 
being  borne  by  the  current  some  ways,  it  was  espied  by 
a  princess  who  was  bathing,  whose  maids,  at  her  com 
mand,  brought  it  to  her.  It  contained 'a  circumcised 
Hebrew  child.  The  princess,  being  childless,  adopted 
it,  and  educated  it,  and  declared  it  to  be  her  son.  She 
placed  him  next  to  her  in  the  kingdom,  and  was  abou, 
to  resign  to  him  the  crown,  when — ' 

"  Here  my  mother,  whose  face  I  had  earnestly  re 
garded,  became  pale  and  trembled  all  over.  She  seized 
niy  hands  and  gasped — 

" '  Tell  me,  Remeses,  tell  me,  was  this  a  dream,  or 
hast  tliou  heard  it  ?' 

" '  I  saw  it,  my  mother,  in  a  vision,  in  the  subterra 
nean  chamber  of  the  pyramids.  It  was  one  of  those 
scenes  of  magic  which  the  arts  of  the  magi  know  how 
to  produce.' 

"  '  Dost  thou  believe  it  ?'  she  cried. 

" '  Is  it  not  thy  secret,  O  my  mother,  which  Yrince 
Moeris  shares  with  thee ?  Am  I  not  right?  Does  not 
that  Hebrew  child,'  I  cried,  rising,  <  now  stand  before 
thee  ?' 

"  She  shrieked,  and  fell  insensible  ! 

"  At  length  I  restored  her  to  consciousness.  1  related 
all  I  have  told  you.  Reluctantly,  she  confessed  that  all 


420  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

was  true  as  I  had  seen  it.  I  then,  in  a  scene  such  as  1 
hope  never  to  pass  through  again,  assured  her  I  should 
jrefus,e  the  throne  and  exile  myself  from  Egypt.  She 
implored  me  with  strong  appeals  to  keep  the  secret, 
and  mount  the  throne.  I  firmly  refused  to  Jo  so,  inas 
much  as  it  would  be  an  act  of  injustice,  not  only  to 
Mceris,  but  to  the  Egyptians,  to  deceive  them  with  a 
Hebrew  ruler.  She  reminded  me  how,  for  sixty-one 
years,  Prince  Joseph  had  governed  Egypt.  l  Yes,'  I  said, 
but  it  was  openly  and  without  deceit ;  while  my  reign, 
would  be  a  gross  deception  and  usurpation.'  But,  O 
Sesostris,  I  cannot  revive  the  scene.  It  has  passed  ! — I 
have  yielded !  She  showed  me  the  letters  of  Prince 
Moeris.  She  implored  me  for  her  sake  to  keep  the 
secret,  and  aid  her  in  resisting  the  conspiracy  of  the 
viceroy.  When  I  reflected  that  he  had  made  my  mother 
so  long  miserable,  and  now  menaced  her  throne,  I  yield 
ed  to  her  entreaties  to  remain  a  few  days  at  the  head  of 
the  affairs  that  have  been  intrusted  to  my  control,  and 
to  lead  the  army  against  Moeris,  should  he  fulfil  his 
menace  to  invade  Lower  Egypt.  After  that,  I  said,  I 
shall  refuse  to  be  called  the  son  of  Pharaoh'f,  daughter, 
and  will  retire  from  the  Court." 

"  Not  among  the  Hebrews  ?"  I  exclaimed. 

"  Kg,  perhaps  not.  I  have  nothing  in  common  with 
them.  I  can  do  them  no  good :  I  cannot  yet  consent  to 
share  their  bondage.  I  shall  seek  my  own  family,  for 
the  queen  has  told  me  who  they  are.  My  mother,  my 
own  mother,  Sesostris,  shall  again  fold  her  child  to  her 
heart !  (I  recollect  her  beautiful,  tearful  face,  as  seen  in 
the  vision  of  the  pyramids.  I  have  a  brother,  too,  and 
a  sister !" 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  421 

"  I  know  them  both !"  I  cried,  almost  joyfully ;  though, 
dear  'mother,  it  was  a  sad  joy  I  felt,  to  know  that  Re- 
meses  was  a  brother  to  Miriam  and  the  ecclesiastic  gold- 
caster.  He  became  at  once  interested,  and  I  told  him 
all  I  knew  about  them,  as  I  have  you.  He  listened 
with  deep  attention,  arid  seemed  pleased.  I  also  told 
him  how  often  I  had  conversed,  in  the  garden  of  flowers, 
with  the  venerable  Amrarn,  the  father  of  Miriam. 

"  And  my  father  also,  you  should  add,"  he  said,  with 
a  melancholy  smile.  "  I  knew  it  not,  Sesostris ;  I  be 
lieved  him  to  be  the  husband  of  my  nurse.  Thinkest 
thou  all  this  time  he  knew  I  was  his  son  ?" 

"I  doubt  it  not,"  I  answered.  "The  eyes  of  your 
father  and  mother  must  naturally  have  been  upon  you 
from  your  childhood  up.  They  must  have  witnessed  all 
your  career,  and  rejoiced  in  it,  and  kept  the  secret  lacked 
in  their  own  humble  hearts,  lest  you  and  the  world 
should  know  it,  and  the  glory  they  secretly  saw  you 
sharing,  be  taken  away  or  resigned  by  you." 

"I  shall  see  them.  They  shall  yet  hear  me  say, 
mother,  father,  brother,  sister,  to  each  one  of  them.  But, 
Sesostris,  I  must  then  bid  them  farewell  forever,  and 
Egypt  also, — if  the  queen  will  permit  me  to  go,"  he  sud 
denly  added,  with  bitter  irony  unusual  with  him ;  "  for 
slaves  must  have  no  will  but  their  master's." 

I  laid  my  arm  kindly  and  sympathizingly  upon  his 
shoulder,  and  silently  embraced  him. 

"  I  feel  for  you,  O  Kemeses,  with  all  my  heart,"  I 
said. 

"  I  know  you  do,  O  prince  :  I  am  sure  that  you  do. 
But  let  us  terminate  this  subject.  My  mother's — I  mean, 
alas  !  the  queen's  desire  shall  be  gratified.  I  will,  for  a 


422  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

few  days,  continue  as  I  am,  but  no  more  return  to  the 
temples.  My  initiation  is  over.  Without  doubt  the 
priests  of  the  hierarchy  will  seek  to  put  me  to  death, 
when  they  learn  that  a  Hebrew  has  been  initiated  into 
all  their  learning  and  mysteries.  It  will  be  necessary 
for  me  to  leave  Egypt." 

"  Then  let  Tyre,  O  prince,  be  thy  asylum — thy  future 
home  !"  I  cried.  "There  the  Hebrew  is  not  in  bondage, 
and  is  a  Syrian  among  Syrians.  There  you  shall  have 
a  palace  and  retinue,  and  be  served  as  becomes  your 
wisdom  and  greatness.  My  mother  Epiphia  will  wel 
come  you  with  pleasure,  for  she  has  already  learned  to 
honor  you,  from  my  letters.  Our  city  is  about  to  go  to 
war  with  the  King  of  Cyprus,  and  my  mother  has  written, 
urging  me  to  return.  Twelve  galleys  will  await  me  at 
Pelusium,  in  a  fortnight  hence,  to  escort  my  own  to 
Tyre.  Consent,  O  Kemeses,  to  go  with  me." 

"  ISToble  prince,"  he  exclaimed,  deeply  moved,  "  how 
can  I  thank  you !  It  is  the  greatest  consolation,  in  this 
my  sorrow  and  humiliation,  to  know  that  you  do  not 
withdraw  from  me  your  friendship  ;  that  you  can  still 
esteem  me  as  a  man  !  Sesostris,  I  thank  you.  I  will 
accept  your  offer,  if  my — that  is,  the  queen,  will  change 
her  mind,  and  permit  me  to  address  a  letter,  by  a  swift 
courier,  to  Prince  Mceris.  In  it  I  will  briefly  say  that  I 
am  informed  of  my  true  lineage,  and  that  if  he  will 
quietly  wait  the  succession,  and  be  submissive  to  the 
queen,  and  withhold  his  army  from  Memphis,  I  will, 
within  three  days  after  obtaining  his  affirmative  reply, 
leave  Egypt  for  a  foreign  land.  Such  a  course  will 
prove  the  best  in  the  end  for  him  and  Egypt,  and  I 
have  no  doubt  he  will  consent  to  adopt  it.  How  extra- 


ISRAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  423 

ordinary  that  this  wily  man  should  so  long  have  kept 
the  secret  with  which  he  so  terribly  menaced  my — the 
queen !" 

I  approved  of  the  course  suggested.  Remeses  soon 
afterwards  sought  the  queen ;  and  at  the  end  of  four 
hours  he  returned  to  me,  looking  very  weary  and  pale, 
yet  smiling,  saying — 

"  It  is  achieved !  It  was  a  fearful  struggle !  The 
queen  has  consented!  Indeed,  she  seems  heart-broken, 
spirit-crushed  !  This  discovery,  against  which  her  soul 
has  so  long  battled,  has  left  her  prostrate,  almost 
wrecked !  For  her  sake  I  bore  up  and  hid  my  own 
unfathomable  sorrow.  She  has,  at  my  solicitation,  con 
sented  that  I  shall  not  only  wTite  to  Prince  Moeris,  in 
serting  a  clause  enjoining  silence  as  to  my  birth,  but 
her  own  courier  shall  be  its  bearer,  signifying  her  wish 
for  conciliation.  The  letter  was  written  in  her  presence, 
the  clause  for  silence  introduced,  and  the  courier  is  al 
ready  gone  with  it." 

"While  Remeses  was  speaking,  a  page  entered  and 
informed  him  that  the  queen  wished  to  see  him.  He 
found  her  ill  with  a  feverish  pulse.  She  called  him  to 
her,  and  said — 

"  My  son,  I  am  about  to  die !  This  blow  is  too  heavy 
for  me  to  bear !  I  shall  never  recover !  It  was  my 
wish  to  leave  you  firmly  seated  upon  my  throne ; 
but  the  gods  have  decreed  otherwise.  Call  a  council 
of  the  hierarchy.  I  must  not  be  faithless  to  my  ances 
tors,  and  leave  a  vacant  throne.  You  have  advised 
me  to  adopt  Prince  Moeris.  I  can  do  no  otherwise. 
For  this  act,  assemble  my  councils,  both  of  state  and  of 
the  priesthood." 


424:  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

"  I  obeyed,"  said  Remeses,  when  he  subsequently 
related  what  passed.  "  Tlie  next  day  the  councils  met 
in  one  session,  and  the  queen,  supported  upon  her  couch, 
presided.  Briefly  she  announced  her  intention  of  adopt 
ing  Mceris-Mento, — giving  his  full  name,— as  her  son,  and 
the  next  in  succession  to  the  throne,  their  consent  being 
obtained.  Then  came  up  the  question,  'why  Prince 
Remeses  declined  ?'  Being  present,  I  answered  that  it 
was  my  intention  to  retire  from  the  court,  visit  foreign 
lands,  and  leave  the  government  of  Egypt  in  the  hands 
of  Moeris.  At  the  earnest  request  of  the  queen  I  made 
no  allusion  to  the  secret.  The  united  councils  yielded 
their  assent,  and  the  royal  secretary  drew  up  the  papers 
in  due  form,  which  the  queen,  supported  by  me,  signed. 
A  courier  was  then  dispatched  with  a  copy  of  the  instru 
ment  to  the  prince.  The  cabinet  was  soon  afterwards 
dismissed,  and  I  was  left  alone  with  the  queen,  who  soon 
became  very  ill." 

Thus  far,  my  dearest  mother,  had  I  written  in  this 
letter  five  days  ago,  when  the  chief  chamberlain  came 
hastening  to  my  room,  in  great  terror,  saying  that  the 
queen  was  dying!  I  lost  not  a  moment  in  following 
him  to  her  apartments.  Ever  since  the  meeting  of  the 
council  she  had  been  growing  worse,  and  all  the  skill  ot 
her  physicians  could  not  abate  the  disease,  which  was 
pronounced  inflammation  of  the  brain.  She  had  been 
for  two  days  wildly  delirious,  calling  upon  Remeses  not 
to  leave  her,  and  accusing  the  gods  of  seeking  to  put 
upon  her  a  stranger  for  her  own  son !  At  length  her 
ravings  and  her  fever  ceased,  and  she  rapidly  failed. 
When  I  entered,  I  found  Remeses  kneeling  by  her  side, 
his  manly  head  bowed  upon  her  couch,  and  tears  falling 


ISRAEL  IN  BONDAGE.  425 

upon  her  cold  hand,  held  in  his.  Her  mind  was  clear 
now,  but  I  could  see  that  the  azure  circle  of  death  gir 
dled  her  eyes,  and  that  the  light  of  the  soul  within  was 
expiring.  Her  whole  attention  was  fixed  upon  Keme- 
Bes,  to  whom  she  kept  saying,  in  a  faint  whisper,  and 
with  a  smile,  "  My  son,  my  son,  my  own  son!  call  me 
mother !" 

"  Mother,  O  my  mother  !"  he  exclaimed,  in  his  strong 
anguish,  "I  cannot  part  with  thee!  Thou  hast  been  a 
mother  to  me  indeed  !" 

As  I  entered,  her  gaze  turned  towards  me. 

"  It  is  the  Prince  of  Tyre  !  I  thought  it  was  the  oth 
ers  !" 

"  What  others,  my  mother  ?"  asked  Kemeses. 

"  They  will  soon  come.  I  commanded  him  to  bring 
them  all.  I  must  see  them  ere  I  die.  But  the  Prince 
of  Tyre  is  welcome  !"  And  she  smiled  upon  me,  and 
gave  me  her  other  hand  to  kiss.  It  was  cold  as  ivory  ! 
I  also  knelt  by  her,  and  sorrowfully  watched  her  sharp 
ening  features,  which  the  chisel  of  Death  seemed 
shaping  into  the  marble  majesty  of  a  god. 

At  this  moment  the  door  opened,  and  I  saw,  ushered 
in  by  a  Hebrew  page,  the  venerable  head  gardener,  Am- 
ram ;  the  young  Hebrew  ecclesiastic ;  Miriam  the  papy 
rus  writer ;  and,  leaning  upon  her  arm,  a  dignified  and 
still  beautiful  dame  of  fifty-five.  I  could  not  be  mis 
taken — this  last  was  the  mother  of  Remeses. 

"  Cause  all  persons  to  go  forth  the  chamber,"  cried 
the  queen  at  the  sight,  her  voice  recovering  in  part  its 
strength.  She  glanced  at  me  to  remain. 

"Come  hither,  Amram,"  she  said,  "and  lead  to  my 
bedside  thy  wife.  Ilemeses,  behold  thy  mother  and 


4:26  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

father !  Mother,  embrace  thy  son !  Since  he  can  be 
no  longer  mine,  I  will  return  him  to  thee  forever  !"  Her 
voice  was  veiled  with  tears.  Remeses  rose,  and  turning 
to  his  mother,  who  looked  worthy  of  him,  said  : 

"  My  mother,  I  acknowledge  thee  to  be  my  mother  ! 
Give  me  thy  blessing,  as  thou  hast  often  done  in  my  in 
fancy." 

He  tenderly  and  respectfully  embraced  her,  and  then 
pressing  his  father's  hand  to  his  lips,  he  knelt  before 
them.  They  were  deeply  moved,  and  instead  of  bless 
ing  him,  wept  upon  him  with  silent  joy. 

"  Are  there  not  two  more — a  brother,  a  sister  ?"  said 
Remeses,  his  fine  face  radiant  with  that  ineffable  beauty 
which  shines  from  benevolence  and  the  performance  ot 
a  holy  duty.  I  then  led  forward  Miriam,  whom  he  re 
garded  with  admiring  surprise  (for  she  looked  like  a 
queen  in  her  own  right),  and  then  tenderly  embraced, 
saying  to  me,  "Though  I  have  lost  a  kingdom,  O  Se- 
sostris,  I  have  gained  a  sister,  which  no  crown  could 
bestow  upon  me."  Then,  when  he  saw  the  noble  and 
princely  looking  priest,  he  cried,  as  he  folded  him  to  his 
breast — 
("  This  is,  indeed,  my  brother !" 

The  whole  scene  was  touching  and  interesting  beyond 
the  power  of  my  pen  to  describe,  my  dear  mother.  The 
dying  queen  smiled  with  serene  pleasure,  and  waving 
her  hand,  Remeses  led  first  his  mother,  and  then  his 
father,  and  in  succession  his  sister  and  brother,  to  her 
couch.  Upon  the  heads  of  each  she  laid  her  hand,  but 
longest  upon  the  mother's,  saying  : 

"  Love  him — be  kind  to  him — he  has  no  mother  now 
but  thee  !  Love  him  for  my  sake — you  cannot  but  love 


ISRAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  427 

him  for  his  own  !  If  I  took  thy  babe,  O  mother,  I  re 
turn  thee  a  man  and  a  prince  worthy  to  rule  a  nation, 
and  in  whom  my  eyes,  closing  upon  the  present,  and  see 
ing  far  into  the  future,  behold  a  leader  of  thy  people — a 
prince  to  thy  nation.  Born  to  a  throne,  he  shall  yet 
reign  king  of  armies  and  leader  of  hosts,  who  I  see  fol 
low  him  obedient  to  his  will  and  submissive  to  the  rod 
of  his  power.  Remeses,  I  die  !  Kiss  me !" 

The  noble  Hebrew  reverently  bent  over  her  lips,  as 
if  in  an  act  of  worship ;  and  when  he  lifted  his  face, 
there  remained  a  statue  of  clay.  The  Queen  of  Egypt 
was  no  more  !  SESOSTKIS. 

I  closed,  dear  mother,  my  account  of  the  death  of  the 
great  and  good  Queen  Amense  (which  I  wrote  the  day 
following  that  sad  event),  in  order  to  accompany  Rerne- 
ses  to  the  chief  embalmers.  As  I  passed  through  the 
streets,  I  saw  that  the  whole  population  was  in  mourn 
ing.  Women  went  with  dishevelled  hair,  men  ceased 
to  shave  their  heads  and  beards,  and  all  the  signs  of  woe 
for  death,  which  I  have  before  described,  were  visible. 
By  the  laws  of  Egypt,  not  even  a  king  can  be  embalmed 
in  his  own  palace.  Remeses,  on  reaching  the  suburb 
of  the  embalmers,  was  received  into  the  house  of  the 
chief,  and  here  he  gave  directions  as  to  the  fashion  of 
the  case  and  sarcophagus,  and  the  pattern  of  the  funeral 
car,  and  of  the  baris  in  which  it  was  to  cross  the  Nile 
to  the  pyramid  which,  I  have  already  said,  she  has  been, 
since  the  first  year  of  her  reign,  erecting  for  her  burial- 
place — placing  a  casing  of  vast  stones,  Brought  down 
from  the  quarries  near  Elephantis,  each  year. 

I  will  not  delay  to  describe  the  ceremonies  of  prepara- 


428  THE  PILLAR  OF  FIRE,  OR 

tion,  nor  the  embalmment  and  burial  of  the  august  lady 
whose  demise  has  cast  a  pall  over  Egypt.  Your  assur 
ance  that  it  would  take  you  five  months  to  get  ready 
your  war-fleet  against  Cyprus,  and  the  desire  of  Reme- 
ses  that  I  delay  until  the  eighty  days'  mourning  for 
the  queen  were  over,  induced  me  to  remain.  It  is  now 
four  days  since  her  burial  in  the  centre  of  her  stately 
pyramid,  with  the  most  imposing  and  gorgeous  rites 
ever  known  at  the  entombment  of  a  monarch.  Prince 
Mosris  wao  chief  mourner !  I  have  omitted  to  state  that 
he  readily  acceded  to  the  conditions  proposed  in  the  let 
ter  of  Remeses,  and  when  the  courier  followed,  convey 
ing  to  him  the  fact  that  he  had  been  adopted  and  de 
clared  her  heir  by  the  queen,  he  addressed  a  frank  and 
friendly  letter  to  Remeses  ;  for  it  is  easy  for  him  to  as 
sume  any  character  his  interest  prompts.  As  soon  as 
the  intelligence  of  the  death  of  the  queen  reached  him, 
he  hastened  to  Memphis.  Here  he  had  an  interview 
with  Remeses,  whom  he  treated  with  courtesy,  and 
offered  the  supervision  of  that  part  of  Egypt  where  the 
Hebrew  shepherds  dwell ;  for  I  have  learned  that  in  a  val 
ley,  which  leads  from  Raamses  to  the  Sea  of  Arabia,  there 
are  hundreds  of  Hebrews  who,  like  their  ancestors,  keep 
vast  flocks  and  herds  belonging  to  the  crown,  but  out  of 
*  which  they  are  allowed  a  tenth  for  their  subsistence. 
Over  this  pastoral  domain,  embracing  about  twenty 
thousand  shepherds,  the  prospective  Pharaoh  proposed 
to  place  Remeses.  I  felt  that  it  was  intended  as  an  in 
sult  ;  but  Remeses  viewed  it  as  an  evidence  of  kindness 
on  the  part  of  one  who  knows  not  how  to  be  noble  or 
great. 

The  interment  of  the  queen  past,  there  is  nothing  to 


ISRAEL  IN  BONDAGE.  429 

detain  either  Kemeses  or  myself  longer  in  Egypt.  By 
her  bounty  he  is  rich,  and  has  given  to  his  parents  a 
large  treasure,  which  will  enable  them  to  be  at  ease  ;  ^ 
and  besides,  the  queen  gave  to  them  and  to  Aaron 
(this  is  the  name  of  the  elder  brother  of  Remeses),  and 
his  sister,  the  right  of  citizenship.  Moeris,  the  day  of 
the  queen's  burial,  virtually  ascended  the  throne.  His 
coronation,  however,  will  not  take  place  until  after  he 
has  passed  through  the  forty  days'  novitiate. 

And  now,  my  dear  mother,  you  will  be  surprised  to 
learn  that,  the  information  of  the  Hebrew  birth  of  Re-  ' 
meses  (who  has  modestly  dropped  his  first  Egyptian 
name  and  adheres  only  to  the  second,  which  is  Mosis, 
or  Moses,  as  the  Hebrews  pronounce  it),  was  wickedly 
conveyed,  with  large  bribes,  to  the  magicians  by  Prince 
Mosris  himself;  and  that,  upon  this  information  and 
influence,  they  recalled  from  the  past,  which,  like  the 
future,  is  open  to  their  magical  art,  the  scenes  of  his  life, 
and  presented  them  before  his  vision. 

Wonderful,  incomprehensible,  dear  mother,  above  all 
things  I  have  seen  in  Egypt,  is  the  mysterious  power 
of  these  magicians  and  sorcerers.  Originally  of  the 
priestly  order,  they  have  advanced  into  deeper  and 
deeper  mysteries,  until  the  hierarchy  of  the  regular 
temple-worship  fear  them,  and  deny  their  ecclesiastical 
character,  saying,  "  that  they  have  climbed  so  high  the 
mountains  of  Osiris,  that  they  have  fallen  headlong  over 
their  summits  into  the  dark  realms  of  Typhon,  and  owe 
their  dread  power  to  his  auspices." 

Whatever  be  the  source  of  their  powerful  art,  dear 
mother,  there  is  no  doubt  of  its  reality.  Not  even  all 
the  invocations,  sacrifices,  oblations,  prayers,  libations, 


430  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,   OR 

and  exercises  of  the  regular  priesthood  can  compete  with 
these  magicians  and  sorcerers.  They  can  convert  day 
into  night !  destroy  the  shadow  of  an  obelisk !  fill  the 
air  with  a  shower  of  sand,  or  of  flowers !  convert  their 
rods  into  vines  that  bear  grapes !  and  walk  with  living 
asps  as  if  they  were  almond  or  acacia  rods  !  They  can 
present  before  the  inquirer,  the  face  or  scene  in  a  dis 
tant  land  that  is  desired  to  be  beheld !  They  can  re 
move  blocks  of  porphyry  by  a  touch  of  the  finger,  and 
make  a  feather  heavy  as  gold !  They  can  cause  invisi 
ble  music  in  the  air,  and  foretell  the  rain !  And  when 
extraordinary  motives  and  rewards  are  brought  to  bear 
upon  them,  they  can,  by  their  united  skill  and  necro 
mantic  art,  aided  by  sorcery,  reproduce  the  past,  as  in 
the  case  of  Remeses ! 

These  powerful,  yet  dreaded  and  hated  men,  have  for 
ages  been  an  appendage  to  the  crown,  and  call  them 
selves  the  "  servants  of  the  Pharaohs."  The  kings  ol 
Egypt,  who  have  protected,  favored,  and  sought  their 
assistance,  have  also  trembled  at  their  power.  Without 
question  they  are  aided  by  the  evil  genii ;  and  perform 
their  works  through  the  agency  of  the  spirit  of  evil. 

This,  dear  mother,  will  be  the  last  letter  I  shall  write 
you  from  Egypt.  Accompanied  by  Remeses,  I  shall 
to-morrow  embark  in  my  galley  for  Pelusium.  My 
friend,  the  Admiral  Pathromenes,  will  accompany  us  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Eastern  Nile.  I  ought  to  say  that 
King  Moeris,  now  Pharaoh-elect,  has  extended  towards 
me  marked  civilities,  and  seeks  for  a  continuance  of 
friendly  intercourse.  I  shall  bear  a  royal  letter  from 
him  to  your  majesty,  expressive  of  his  respect  for 
you,  and  his  desire  to  perpetuate  the  alliance.  But  I 


ISEAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  431 

have  no  love  for  the  man!  If  I  can,  I  will  raise  an 
army  in  Phoenicia,  after  I  see  the  King  of  Cyprus 
chained  to  the  poop  of  my  galley,  and,  placing  Remeses 
at  the  head,  invade  Egypt,  call  the  Hebrews  to  arms, 
and,  overturning  the  throne  of  Moeris,  place  my  friend 
in  his  seat.  Did  not  the  dying  queen  prophesy  that  her\ 
was  born  to  rule  ?  It  is  over  Egypt  he  will  yet  wiekr 
the  sceptre  !  I  will  do  my  part,  dear  mother,  to  fulfil 
the  prophecy. 

To  the  lovely  Princess  Thamonda  convey  my  devo 
tions,  and  assure  her  that  I  shall  make  war  against  Cy 
prus  more  successfully,  with  her  heart  wedded  to  mine, 
than  alone.  Warn  her,  dear  mother,  that  I  shall  claim 
her  hand  as  soon  as  I  return,  and  that  Eemeses  will  be 
the  groom-friend  whom  I  shall  honor  with  the  high 
place  of  witness  and  chief  guest  at  our  nuptials. 

Farewell,  dear  mother. 

Remeses  desires  to  unite  with  me  in  affectionate  re 
gards  to  you. 

Your  son, 

SESOSTRIS. 


Here  the  correspondence  of  the  Prince  of  Tyre  with  the  Queen 
Epiphia  terminates.] 


LETTERS 

BETWEEN  REMESES  AND  OTHER  PERSONS, 

COVERING   A  PERIOD  OF   FIVE   YEARS. 


LETTEK    I. 
REMESES  TO  AARON  THE  HEBREW. 

CITY  OF  TYKE,  SYEIA,  MONTH  ATHYR. 

ELDER    AND    DEAK   BROTHER  : 

IT  is  with  emotions  wholly  new  to  me,  awakened 
by  those  fraternal  ties  to  which  I  have  been'  hitherte 
entirely  a  stranger,  that  I  take  up  my  pen  to  address 
you,  inscribing  at  the  commencement  of  my  letter  the 
endearing  words,  "  my  brother !"  It  is  true  I  have  lost 
much  in  many  respects ;  but  I  have  also  gained  much 
in  the  affection  of  my  newly  discovered  kindred. 

After  you  left  us  below  Memphis,  the  galley  of  the 
Prince  Sesostris  sped  swiftly  down  the  Nile,  and  ere 
noon  we  had  entered  the  Pelusian  branch.  As  I  passed 
the  old  city  of  Bubastis,  and  Py  thorn,  the  new  treasure- 
city,  which  is  rising  upon  its  ruins,  I  groaned  with 
heaviness  of  heart !  Around  and  upon  its  walls,  I  be 
held  the  thousands  of  my  oppressed  countrymen  toil 
ing,  like  Nubian  slaves,  under  the  lash  of  their  task-A 
masters !  I  could  only  groan  in  heart ;  for  what  was  I 


ISRAEL   IN    BONDAGE.  4:33 

now  able  to  do  for  them, — myself  an  exile,  and  flying 
from  the  land  ?  May  the  prophecy  which  exists  among 
your  people  (my  people),  as  you  asserted  in  the  last  long 
and  interesting  conversation  we  held  together,  on  the 
day  I  embarked,  be  soon  fulfilled  !  This  bondage  can 
not  continue  many  years  !  There  is  not  room  in  Egypt 
for  two  nations  ! 

At  Pelusium  we  found  the  prince's  fleet  awaiting  him. 
It  set  sail  shortly  after  our  arrival,  and  coasting  by  the 
shores  of  Arabia,  and  passing  Askelon,  in  Philistia,  in 
seven  days  we  entered  the  port  of  Tyre ;  which  is  built 
upon  a  rocky  isle  and  peninsula,  and  rises  from  the  sea 
with  imposing  magnificence. 

I  was  most  kindly  received  by  the  mother  of  Sesos- 
tris,  whose  glad  reception  of  her  son  made  my  eyes  fill 
with  tears ;  for  I  remembered  my  (I  was  going  to  say, 
mother) — the  Queen  Amense's  tenderness,  whenever 
she  met  me  after  the  shortest  absence. 

But  I  must  not  refer  to  the  past. 

Prince  Sesostris  treats  me  in  every  respect  as  an  equal. 
"Were  I  still  Prince  Remeses  of  Egypt,  he  could  not 
show  me  more  kindness  and  regard.  We  have  now 
been  here  one  month  ;  and  in  that  time  I  have  seen 
much  of  Tyre,  but  my  continued  grief  for  the  death  ot 
the  beloved  queen, — my  more  than  mother, — renders  me 
quite  indifferent  to  external  objects.  As  the  guest  of 
the  prince,  I  have  endeavored  to  interest  myself  in  what 
concerns  him.  He  is  engaged  earnestly  in  preparations 
for  war.  The  port  of  Tyre  is  thronged  with  war-galleys ; 
and  reviews  of  troops  take  place  daily,  on  a  plain  which 
is  overhung  by  the  mountain-range  of  Libanus.  The 
grandeur  of  this  mountain,  in  which  the  earliest  worship 

19 


434  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIKE,    OR 

of  men  rose  to  the  gods,  deeply  impressed  me.     The 
fleet  will  sail  in  about  one  month. 

DAMASCUS,  SYKO-PHCENICIA. 

Since  writing  the  above  I  have  come  to  this  beautiful 
city,  which  lies  in  a  lovely  vale  watered  by  two  rivers, 
the  Abana  and  Pharphar,  that  fertilize  it  and  render  it 
indeed  u  the  garden  of  the  earth" — as  it  is  termed.  I 
travelled  hither  with  the  prince,  who  has  come  to  take 
to  wife  Thamonda,  the  fair  princess  of  this  city.  She  is 
amiable  and  sensible,  and  I  rejoice  that  my  princely 
friend  has  such  happiness  in  store  !  How  fortunate  for 
me,  my  brother,  that  while  I  was  Prince  of  Egypt,  I 
did  not  interest  myself  in  any  princess,  who  would  be 
now  humbled  and  wretched  at  my  degradation !  The 
nuptial  ceremonies  will  take  place  soon,  and  occupy 
some  days.  I  wish  Sesostris  every  happiness  in  his 
alliance. 

I  met  here  the  venerable  Prince  of  Uz.  He  had  trav 
elled  thus  far  on  his  return  to  his  own  land,  which  lies  on 
the  borders  of  Chaldea  and  Sabsea,  and  when  informed 
of  my  present  position  was  deeply  moved.  We  have 
had  long  and  interesting  conversations  together,  upon 
the  unity  of  God !  which  have  so  deeply  absorbed  my 
reflections,  that  I  have  accepted  an  invitation  to  visit 
him,  after  I  return  from  Cyprus,  whither  I  accompany 
the  prince  and  his  bride. 

THE  PALACE  OF  THE  PKINCESS  OF  DAMASCUS. 

My  beloved  Sesostris  is  married.  The  ceremonies 
were  unusually  magnificent; — several  kings  of  cities 


ISKAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  435 

and  princes  of  provinces  being  present,  with  their  ret 
inues.  But  I  do  not  excel  in  descriptions  of  scenes  and 
festivities,  and  leave  them  to  the  more  graceful  and  easy 
pen  of  Sesostris.  We  depart  in  three  days  with  a  gala 
procession  of  horsemen,  to  return  to  Tyre. 

ISLE  OF  TYKE. 

Having  "kept  this  roll  of  papyrus  writh  me,  I  now  close 
my  epistle  here,  where  I  commenced  writing  it,  with 
the  intelligence  of  our  arrival ;  the  happy  reception  of 
her  new  daughter-in-law,  by  Queen  Epiphia ;  and  with 
the  announcement  that  the  fleet  will  set  sail  within  three 
days  for  the  Levantine  island-kingdom. 

Commend  me,  my  brother,  with  respectlul  affection, 
to  my  father  Amram,  to  my  honored  mother,  and  to  my 
stately  sister,  Miriam.  Trusting  you  are  ill  in  health 
and  safety,  I  am  your  brother,  with  profoi  nd  fraternal 
regard, 

MOSES,  THI 


436  THE  PILLAR  OF  FIRE,  OR 


LETTEE    II. 


REMESES     TO     1118     BROTHER. 


PHOENICIA. 


A  YEAJR  lias  passed,  my  brother,  since  I  last  wrote  to 
you.  In  the  mean  while  I  have  received  your  very  kind 
epistle.  It  reached  me  at  Tyre,  where  I  found  it  await 
ing  me,  on  my  return  from  the  expedition  against  Cy 
prus.  You  have  probably  learned  the  result  of  the  war, 
and  that  Prince  Sesostris  landed  his  army,  defeated 
the  King  of  Cyprus  in  a  pitched  battle,  taking  his  bat 
talion  of  chariots,  which  were  armed  with  scythes,  and 
destroying  his  cavalry.  The  king  implored  peace,  and 
surrendered  his  capital.  Sesostris,  after  levying  a  trib 
ute  of  two  thousand  talents  of  silver  upon  it  for  ten 
years,  and  demanding  a  portion  of  the  island,  on  the 
north,  for  a  Phoenician  colony,  returned  triumphant  to 
his  country. 

I  am  now  travelling  through  the  whole  of  Syria.  From 
this  point  I  shall  proceed  to  the  province  of  Uz.  I  de 
sire  to  know  more  fully  this  wisdom  of  the  One  God, 
the  Almighty,  as  taught  by  the  Sage  of  that  land. 
"When  I  saw  him  in  Damascus,  a  year  ago,  I  informed 
him  that  I  had  begun  to  write  an  account  of  the  wonder 
ful  incidents  of  his  life ;  but  when  I  read  to  him  what  I 
had  commenced,  and  afterwards  heard  his  conversation 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  437 % 

upon  the  God  he  worshipped,  I  perceived  that  I  was  a 
child  in  ignorance,  and  had  entered  upon  a  task  impos 
sible  for  me  to  perform,  by  reason  of  my  religious  edu 
cation  as  an  Egyptian. 

"  My  son,"  he  said,  "  thou  art  not  far  from  the  knowl 
edge  of  the  Almighty,  and  thy  soul  aspires  after  the  true 
God.  Come  with  me  to  my  own  land,  for  thou  sayest 
thou  art  a  wanderer,  and  I  will  teach  thee  the  knowl 
edge  of  the  Holy  One.  Then  thou  mayest  write  the 
acts  of  the  Invisible  to  man,  and  justify  Him  in  His  ways 
to  me,  His  servant.  The  gods  of  Egypt  darken  knowl 
edge,  and  veil  the  understanding  of  those  who  trust  in 
them,  and  say  to  an  idol  of  gold,  c  Thou  art  my  god.' ': 

I  am  now  journeying,  O  my  brother,  to  sit  at  the  feet 
of  this  man  of  God,  whose  simple  wisdom  has  enlight 
ened  my  soul  more  than  all  the  learning  of  Egypt ;  nay, 
I  would  gladly  forget  all  the  knowledge  I  obtained  in 
Egypt,  to  know,  and  fear,  and  love  the  "  Holy  One" — 
the  Almighty  God — of  the  Prince  of  Uz.  What  is  par 
ticularly  worthy  of  note  is,  that  his  views  of  the  Invis 
ible  are  the  same  as  those  which  you  taught  me  were 
held  by  the  elders  among  our  people  ;  and  of  the  truth 
of  which  you  so  eloquently  and  feelingly  endeavored  to 
convince  me,  on  the  evening  before  my  departure  from 
Egypt,  as  we  sat  by  the  door  of  our  mother's  home, 
under  the  two  palms.  Dissatisfied  with  the  gods  of 
Egypt,  and  the  emptiness  and  vanity  of  its  worship,  as 
not  meeting  the  wants  of  man,  I  turn  to  any  source 
which  will  pour  the  light  of  truth  into  my  soul.  We 
both,  brother,  are  feeling  after  God,  if  haply  we  may 
find  Him  ;  for  I  perceive  that  your  own  soul  is  darkened 
and  clouded  as  well  as  mine,  by  the  dark  myths  of 


'438  THE   PILLAK   OF   PzRE,    OK 

Egypt,  in  which  we  have  been  educated.  But  let  us 
both  take  courage,  my  noble  elder  brother.  There  is 
light,  there  is  truth,  there  is  knowledge  somewhere 
on  earth !  and  I  go  to  the  aged  Prince  of  ~Uz  to  learn  of 
him.  Sitting  at  his  feet,  I  will  empty  myself  of  all  the 
false  and  unsatisfying  wisdom  of  Egypt,  and  meekly 
bay,  "I  am  ignorant — enlighten  me!  Teach  me  con 
cerning  thy  God,  for  I  know  that  He  is  the  God  my 
soul  longs  for,  whom  the  nations  know  not !" 

Your  letter  spoke  of  Pharaoh,  and  his  cruelty  and 
power.  I  am  prepared  to  hear  that  he  takes  new  meas 
ures  to  heap  burdens  upon  our  people.  The  Lake 
Amense,  which  you  say  he  is  enlarging  to  an  inland 
sea,  will  destroy  thousands  of  the  Hebrews  whom  you 
tell  me  he  is  putting  to  the  work  ;  for,  unaccustomed 
to  labor  in  the  water,  they  must  perish  miserably.  1 
trust  he  will  suffer  you  and  my  father's  family  to  dwell 
unmolested.  Be  prepared  at  any  moment  to  escape, 
should  he  seek  to  destroy  the  prosperity  in  which  the 
beloved  queen,  left  you,  and  those  dear  to  rne  by  the 
sacred  and  all'1  ctionate  ties  of  nature. 

Farewell. 

Your  brother, 

MOSES. 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE  439 


LETTEE    III. 

KEMESES-MOSES    TO    AARON. 

THE  PALACE  OF  THE  LOED  OF  Uz. 

MY  DEAR  AND  HONORED  BROTHER! 

I  HAVE  been  here  now  one  year.  The  venerable 
prince  honors  me  as  a  son,  and  I  repay  him,  so  far  as  I 
can,  by  instructing  him  in  the  history  of  Egypt,  and 
other  knowledge ;  for,  so  great  is  his  wisdom,  he  seeks 
ever  to  know  more.  In  astrology,  physics,  geometry, 
and  all  arts,  he  is  deeply  learned.  But  above  all,  is  his 
knowledge  of  the  Almighty.  This  man  has  the  mys 
teries  of  God  in  his  heart,  and  to  the  eyes  of  his  divine 
piety,  the  Most  High  is  visible  as  He  is.  He  hath  spo 
ken,  to  the  Lord  of  heaven  face  to  face,  and  he  communi 
cates  with  Him  as  a  servant  with  his  lord. 

When  1  came  hither,  after  visiting  Baal-Phegor  and 
other  places,  he  received  me  with  affection,  and  gave 
me  rooms  in  his  palace,  and  servants,  and  a  place  at  his 
table.  I  found  him  dwelling  in  a  city  he  himself  had 
builded,  and  reigning  the  wealthiest,  wisest,  and  yet  hum 
blest  prince  in  all  the  East.  Around  it  lay  the  cities  of 
Shiih,  Teman,»and  Naamath,  the  lesser  princes  of  which 
are  his  bosom  friends,  and  once  a  week  meet  at  his  hos 
pitable  board.  They  hang  upon  the  words  of  his  lips, 
and  reverence  him  as  a  father.  He  also  possesses  vast 
herds  of  cattle  and  oxen,  which  cover  his  plains  ;  four 
teen  thousand  sheep  are  on  his  mountains ;  six  thousand 


440  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

camels;  and  stores  of  silver  and  gold.  He  lias  seven 
sons,  who  are  princes  of  as  many  provinces,  and  three 
daughters,  the  youngest  of  whom,  Keren-happuch,  is 
married  to  the  Lord  of  Midian ;  for  when  the  Prince  of 
TJz,  three  years  ago,  travelled  down  into  Egypt  with  a 
large  caravan  of  his  merchants,  he  passed  through  Mid 
ian,  having  this  daughter  in  company,  who,  being 
comely  in  person,  was  admired  by  the  prince  of  that 
land,  and  by  him  asked  in  marriage  of  her  father.  Ot 
the  two  daughters  who  remain,  no  women  in  all  the 
land  are  found  so  fair.  Such  is  the  prosperity  and 
power  of  this  mighty  and  wise  prince. 

Now,  at  length,  my  dear  brother,  I  have  written  the 
book  of  the  life  of  this  venerable  man  ;  not  as  I  be 
gan  it  in  Egypt,  with  imperfect  ideas  of  the  God  of 
heaven,  wrhose  servant  he  is,  but  from  his  own  lips  have 
I  received  the  narrative  which  I  inclose  to  you.  When 
you  have  read  it, -you  will  arrive  at  the  knowledge  of 
the  Almighty,  whose  name,  and  glory,  and  being,  and 
goodness,  and  j  ustice,  and  love,  are  recognized  in  every 
page.  As  you.  read,  reflect  that  the  God  of  the  Prince 
of  Uz  is  also  my  God,  and  the  God  worshipped  by  our 
fathers  when  they  were  in  Syria.  Away,  O  Aaron !  with 
all  the  gods  of  Egypt !  They  are  brazen  and  golden 
lies,  all !  The  myth  of  Osiris  and  Isis  is  an  invention  of 
the  priests.  The  whole  system  of  their  mythology  ia 
hostile  to  true  religion  and  the  adorers  of  idols  are  the 
worshippers  .of  Satan-  -for  this  is  the  name  of  that  spirit 
of  evil,  antagonistic  to  the  true  God,  hitherto  repre 
sented  to  us  under  the  title  of  Typhon. 

It  would  take  a  score  of  papyri  for  me  to  convey  to 
you  the  course  of  divine  and  sage  instruction  by  which 


ISRAEL  IN   BONDAGE.  Ml 

I  arrived  at  that  clear,  luminous,  and  just  notion  of  the 
Lord  God  of  heaven  and  earth,  which  I  now  hold  ;  the 
possession  of  which  fills  my  soul  with  repose,  my  intel 
lect  with  satisfaction,  my  heart  with  joy,  peace,  and  love 
to  God  and  man.  With  this  certain  knowledge  of  the 
Almighty  that  has  entered  into  my  soul,  is  an  apprehen 
sion  of  His  omnipresence,  His  truth,  holiness,  majesty, 
and  benevolence  ;  and  a  consciousness  that  I  have  re 
ceived  his  Divine  Spirit,  which  last  is,  as  it  were,  a  wit 
ness  vouchsafed  of  Himself  to  me.  By  the  light  of  this 
new  spirit  within  me  I  behold  His  glory,  and  recognize 
that  He  is  my  God,  my  Creator,  my  Benefactor,  and 
Lawgiver.  I  feel  that  in  Him  I  live,  move,  and  have 
my  being,  and  that  besides  Him  there  is  no  God.  The 
realization  of  these  majestic  truths,  O  my  brother,  is  a 
source  to  me  of  the  profoundest  happiness.  Before  their 
light  the  dark  clouds  of  the  myths  of  Egypt  dissolve 
and  fade  away  forever  ! 

"When  I  speak  of  Him  I  find  new  language  rise  to  my 
lips  :  when  I  write  of  Him  my  words  seem  to  clothe 
themselves  with  sublimity  and  majesty.  Henceforth, 
like  the  holy  Prince  of  Uz,  I  am  a  worshipper  of  One 
God,  whose  name  is  the  Almighty,  and  the  Holy  One. 

To  Sesostris  I  have  written  of  these  great  things,  and 
to  you  also  I  will  send  a  treatise,  that  you  may,  without 
obscurity,  behold  His  unity  and  glory  as  they  were 
known  to  our  'fathers,  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  be-  \ 
fore  the  false  worship  of  Egypt  corrupted  our  hereditary  \ 
faith.    With  this  knowledge,  O  Aaron,  our  people,  eves  /' 
in  bondage,  are  superior  to  Pharaoh  on  his'  throne. 
Your  affectionate  brother, 


19* 


4:4:2  THE    PILLAR   OF   F1KE,    OK 


LET1EK    IV. 

EEMESES     TO     MIKIAM. 

TTEE,  PHOENICIA. 

MY  DEAR  BISTEK  : 

I  RECEIVED  your  letter,  written  to  me  from  Bu 
bastis.  I  grieve  to  hear  that  King  Moeris  is  increasing 
BO  heavily  the  burdens  of  our  people,  as  to  drive  to  the 
fields,  and  to  the  new  lake  to  which  he  has  given  his 
name,  all  who  were  servants  in  houses.  Unused  to  toil 
under  the  sun,  they  will  suffer  more  than  others.  1 
read  the  copy  of  the  edict  you  inclosed,  forbidding  the 
Egyptians  to  receive,  as  domestics,  any  of  the  Hebrew 
people,  that  so  all  might  be  driven  to  become  toilers 
in  the  field.  His  motive  is  evident.  He  is  alarmed  at 
the  increase  of  the  Hebrews,  and  would  oppress  them, 
to  death  by  thousands.  My  heart,  bleeds  for  those  he 
has  sent  to  the  mines  in  the  Thebaid.  This  is  a  new 
feature  in  the  Hebrew  bondage.  But  there  is  a  just 
God  on  high,  O  my  sister  Miriam,  the  Holy  One,  whom 
our  fathers  worshipped.  He  will  not  forget  his  people 
forever,  but  in  due  time  will  bring  them  out  of  their 
bondage.  Has  not  Aaron,  our  learned  brother,  made 
known  to  you  the  words  of  tradition  that  are  cherished 
among  our  people, — that  they  are  to  serve  Pharaoh  a 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  443 

certain  number  of  years,  forty-one  of  which  are  yet  to 
come  ?  He  sent  me  the  copy  thereof,  wherein  I  find  it 
written,  as  the  declaration  of  Abraham  our  father,  that 
u  his  posterity  should  serve  Pharaoh  four  hundred 
years."  Aaron,  who,  since  I  left  Egypt,  has  been  giv 
ing  all  his  time  to  collecting  the  traditions  and  laws  of 
our  fathers,  is  confident  that  ere  another  generation 
shall  have  perished,  |jrod  will  raise  up  a  deliverer  for 
the  sons  of  Jacob,  and  lead  them  forth  to  some  new  and 
wonderful  land.  If  such  a  promise,  O  my  sister,  was 
given  by  the  Almighty,  He  will  redeem  it ;  for  He  is 
not  a  man  that  He  should  lie !  Let  us  therefore  wait, 
ancTTiope,  and  pray  to  this  mighty  God  of  our  ancestors, 
to  remember  His  promise,  and  descend  from  Heaven 
with  a  stretched-out  arm  for  our  deliverance.  I  rejoice 
to  hear  that  my  dear  mother  is  well,  also  my  father. 
Commend  me  to  them  with  reverential  affection.  Aaron 
reads  to  you  my  letters,  and  you  will  have  learned  from 
them  how  I  arrived  at  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God^ 
in  whom,  O  Miriam,  both  you  and  he  believed,  while  I, 
considering  myself  an  Egyptian,  was  a  worshipper  of 
the  false  gods  of  Egypt !  Yet,  lo !  by  the  goodness  of 
the  true  God,  I  have  been  enabled,  at  the  feet  of  the 
sage  of  Hz,  to  arrive  at  such  clear  conceptions  of  His 
glory,  and  majesty,  and  government  of  the  universe,  as 
to  teach  even  you.  I  speak  this  not  boastingly,  but 
with  gratitude  to  Him  who  has  made  me  the  instrument 
of  illumining  your  mind,  and  of  giving  you  greater  con 
fidence  and  trust  in  the  God,  who  is  the  God  of  Abra 
ham,  and  the  God  of  the  Prince  of  Uz. 

I  have  now  been  five  years  absent  from  Egypt,  and  my 
heart  yearns  for  my  brethren  in  bondage.     I  feel  that  it 


444  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

is  not  becoming  in  me  to  remain  here,  at  ease  in  the 
court  of  Sesostris ;  for  he  has  now  been  two  years  king, 
since  his  royal  mother's  death,  of  which  I  wrote  to  my 
mother  at  the  time.  I  pant  to  make  known  to  the 
elders  of  the  Hebrews,  the  clear  and  true  knowledge  of 
the  God  of  our  fathers,  which  has  come  down  to  them 
imperfectly,  and  mingled  with  superstitions,  even  when 
it  is  not  corrupted  by  the  idolatry  of  Egypt.  I  wish  to 
learn  the  character  and  condition  of  my  brethren  in 
servitude,  whom  I  formerly  viewed  from  the  proud 
height  of  an  Egyptian  prince.  Now  I  feel  a  desire  to 
mingle  among  them,  to  know  them,  and  be  one  of  them. 
All  my  Egyptian  pride,  dear  sister,  is  long  since  gone, 
and  I  seek  daily  to  cultivate  that  spirit  of  meekness, 
which  better  becomes  one,  who  is  of  a  race  of  bondmen. 
But,  my  sister,  rather  would  I  be  a  slave,  chained  at 
the  chariot-wheel  of  Pharaoh-Moeris,  with  my  present 
knowledge  of  the  Holy  and  Almighty  One, — compared 
with  which  all  the  wisdom  of  Egypt  is  foolishness, — than 
be  that  monarch  himself  with  his  ignorance  of  Him,  and 
his  worship  of  Osiris  and  Apis ! 

May  the  God  of  our  fathers,  by  whose  will  we  are  in 
bonds,  in  His  own  time  send  us  deliverance,  to  whom 
be  glory  and  majesty,  and  dominion  and  power,  ia 
heaven  and~earth,  to  the  end  of  ages. 

Most  affectionately,  your  younger  brother, 

MOSES 


ISKAEL  IN   BONDAGE.  445 


LETTEE   V. 

KEMESES   TO    HIS   MOTHER. 

PALACE  OF  SESOSTEIS,  KING  OF  TYRE. 

MY  MOTHER,  REVERED  AND  LOVED  : 

IN  a  letter  written  a  few  days  ago,  and  which 
went  by  a  vessel  that  was  to  touch  at  Pelusium  on  its 
way  to  Carthage,  I  alluded  to  a  feeling  (which  has  been 
increasing  in  strength  for  many  months)  that  prompted 
me  to  visit  my  brethren  in  bonds  in  Egypt.  It  is  true, 
I  have  no  power.  I  am  but  one,  and  Moeris  would, 
no  doubt,  gladly  seize  upon  me  if  he  knew  I  was  in 
his  kingdom.  I  have,  however,  determined  to  yield  to 
the  desire ;  and  next  month  shall  sail  in  a  galley  that 
goes  to  Egypt  for  ebony  and  ivory.  Not  long,  there 
fore,  after  you  receive  this  letter,  which  the  scholarly 
Aaron  will  read  to  you,  will  you  embrace  your  younger 
and  long-absent  son.  It  is  expedient  that  I  go  unknown. 
I  wish  to  observe  the  Hebrew  people,  without  awaken 
ing  suspicion,  as  to  who  I  am.  Should  Mceris  hear  of 
me,  he  would  quickly  suspect  me  of  planning  evil 
against  him.  If  I  can  do  no  more",  I  can  carry  to  the 
elders  the  certainty  of  the  truth,  as  they  received  it,  by 
tradition,  of  One  God,  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  In 
finite  in  holiness,  and  Almighty  in  power.  From  the 


THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

holy  Prince  of  Uz,  I  not  only  received  this,  but  many 
other  things  of  wonderful  interest — which  he  seemed  to 
know  by  the  voice  of  God — concerning  the  creation  of 
the  world  in  six  days,  and  the  formation  of  man  and 
woman,  whom  he  placed  in  a  garden  of  beauty,  with 
dominion  over  all  things.  But  I  will  not  go  further 
into  these  divine  and  wonderful  things,  at  this  time, 
O  my  mother,  as  I  shall  hereafter  read  to  you,  from 
the  sacred  leaves,  the  narrative  of  the  acts  of  crea 
tion,  as  they  were  written  by  the  Prince  and  Prophet 
of  Uz :  to  whom,  before  all  men,  has  been  revealed 
the  truth  of  the  Most  High,  and  the  mysteries  which 
have  been  secret  from  eternity.  Lo !  the  pages  of 
the  book  of  his  patience  under  God's  trial  show,  that 
no  man  on  earth  ever  before  had  such  illumination  of 
divine  light!  Such  language  as  that  of  his  which  I 
have  written  in  the  book,  when  he  speaks  of  God, 
could  only  have  been  suggested  by  the  inspiration  of 
the  Almighty.  He  talks  of  God  as  if  he  had  sat  at 
His  feet,  arid  daily  beheld  His  glorious  majesty,  or 
heard  His  voice  shake  the  heavens.  Of  him  have  I 
learned  the  wisdom  of  the  past ;  and  there  whispers  in 
my  heart,  O  mother,  a  solemn  voice,  which  bids  me 
hope  that  if  I  fear  God,  and  walk  uprightly,  and  seek 
His  face,  and  trust  in  Him,  He  will  also  draw  nigh  to 
me,  unveil  His  glory,  and  speak  face  to  face  with  me, 
as  He  hath  done  to  His  holy  servant,  the  Prince  of  Uz ! 
It  shall  be  the  aspiration  of  my  heart,  to  be  received  into 
the  divine  favor  as  iJe  has  been,  and  made  the  recipient 
of  His  will,  and  of  His  laws  for  men  !  Censure  me  not, 
— charge  me  not  with  pride,  O  my  mother!  In  the 
Bpirit  of  meekness  and  lowliness  do  I  cherish  this  hope. 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  447 

The  path _tp.  tha.e.ar  of  God,  and  to  His  favor,  the  Prince 
of  Uz  hath  taught  me,  is  prayer.  On  bended  knees, 
therefore,  seven  times  a  day,  do  I  bow  in  supplication 
before  the  Holy  One  Almighty,  the  Lord  God  of  Hosts ; 
and  more  and  more  do  I  feel  my  spirit  go  forth  to 
Him  ;  and  daily,  the  infinite  distance  between  earth  and 
His  throne  seems  to  lessen !  Nor  will  I  cease  to  pray 
to  Him,  O  mother,  until  I  hear  His  voice  in  my  soul, 
and  feel  the  intimate  presence  of  His  Being  in  union 
with  my  own !  Then  will  I  reach  the  height  of  humanity, 
which  is  the  reunion  of  the  creature  with  the  Creator, 
the  restoration  in  his  soul  of  the  divine  image,  and  the 
reception  into  his  own  of  a  divine  and  immortal  life  ! 

My  friend,  King  Sesostris,  reluctantly  consents  to  my 
departure.     He  has  never  ceased  his  affectionate  regard 
for  me,  and  he  has  called  his  beautiful  son,  now  four  years 
old,  Remeses — after  me.     This  child,  I  love  as  if  he  were 
mine  own.      He  is  intelligent  and  full  of  affection,  and 
already  understands  that  I  am  about  to  go  away,  anc" 
sweetly  urges  me  not  to  leave  him.     The  Queen  Tha 
monda  has  prepared  many  gifts  for  you  and  my  sister, 
whom  she  loves,  though  not  having  seen.     Here,  dear 
mother,  the  bondage  and  degradation  of  the  Hebrew  is 
not  comprehended.     We  are  not,  in  their  eyes,  crown- 
serfs.     We  are  but  a  Syrian  nation  held  in  captivity  ;\ 
and  other  nations  regard  us  with  sympathy,  and  have' 
no  share  in  the  contempt  and  scorn  with  which  we  are 
regarded  by  our  Egyptian  taskmasters. 

Israelisis  the  Hebrew,  whom  Sesostris  brought  with 
him  five  years  ago  to  Tyre,  is  now  a  fine  young  man, 
and  assistant  secretary  to  his  royal  scribe.  All  that  our 
people  want,  my  mother,  is  to  be  placed  in  positions 


448  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,   OR 

favorable  to  the  development  of  their  intellect,  and 
they  will  rise,  side  by  side,  with  any  other  people  on 
earth.  If  we  were  a  nation,  with  a  country  of  our  own, 
we  would  give  laws  to  the  world. 

Farewell,  my  dear  mother.     In  a  few  days  you  wiL 
embrace  me. 

Your  devoted  son, 

MOSES. 


ISRAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  449 


LET TEE    VI. 

REMESES   IN   EGYPT   TO    SESOSTKIS   IN   PHCENICIA. 

TEEASUEE-CITY  OF  RAAMSES. 

IT  is  with  gratitude  to  God,  O  Sesostris,  that  I  in 
form  you  of  my  safe  arrival  in  Egypt,  after  a  perilous 
passage  across  the  sea.  Our  chief  pilot,  finding,  after 
we  left  the  port  of  Tyre,  that  the  wind  was  fair  for  the 
mouth  of  the  Nile,  and  the  weather  seeming  to  be 
settled,  signified  to  me  his  intention  to  leave  the 
coast,  and  boldly  steer  from  land  to  land.  Having  no 
knowledge  of  nautical  affairs,  I  neither  advised  nor 
objected,  leaving  him  to  act  according  to  his  own  ex 
perience  and  skill :  he  therefore  laid  the  course  of  the 
ship  as  nearly  straight  for  Pelusium,  as  he  could  ascer 
tain  it,  by  the  position  of  the  sun  at  noon. 

Before  night  we  were  surrounded  by  a  horizon  of 
water,  and  this  being  the  first  time  since  I  had  lived  on 
the  earth,  that  I  had  been  unable  to  behold  it,  the  situation 
was  wholly  novel,  not  only  to  me  but  to  other  passen 
gers, — some  of  whom  manifested  the  liveliest  fears,  lest 
we  should  no  more  behold  the  land.  My  mind  was  im 
pressed  by  the  sublimity  and  vastness  of  the  view ;  and 
the  majestic  idea  of  eternity — boundless  and  infinite — 
filled  my  soul.  It  seemed  as  if,  from  on  deck,  I  could 


450  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

survey  the  universe  of  space,  for  there  was  nothing 
terrestrial  to  arrest  and  confine  the  eye. 

"  Who,"  I  reflected,  "  as  he  surveys  the  illimitable 
sky,  and  the  measureless  ocean  over  which  it  extends, 
can  withhold  the  confession  that  there  is  One  God  only, 
the  Upholder  of  worlds  and  the  Governor  of  His  crea 
tion  ?  Who,  with  such  a  scene  before  him,  as  day  with 
its  splendor  and  vastness  of  space,  and  night  with  its 
stars  presented  above  the  sea,  could  give  the  glory  of 
the  Almighty  to  another,  and  put  his  trust  in  such  myths 
as  are  the  gods  of  Egypt  and  the  deities  of  Phoenicia? 
I  rejoice,  O  king,  that  you  have  listened  to  the  truths 
it  was  my  happiness  to  unfold  to  you,  and  that  in  your 
heart  you  acknowledge  and  secretly  adore  the  Almighty. 
May  the  time  soon  come  when  you  will  have  strength 
given  you,  from  Himself,  to  establish  His  holy  worship 
in  your  dominions  !  A  king  is  God's  representative  on 
earth,  and  his  power  is  great;  and  if  he  exercise  it,--- 
not  like  the  Pharaohs,  who  reign  as  if  they  were  gods, 
but — with  judgment,  and  fear,  and  humble  recognition 
of  the  Infinite  source  of  all  power,  then  He  who  is  King 
of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords,  will  bless  him  and  cause  him 
to  prosper.  When  a  king  acknowledges  that  his  power 
is  delegated,  and  that  he  must  be  accountable  for  its  use 
or  abuse  to  his  God,  he  has  gained  the  highest  wisdom 
that  earth  can  give  !  Seek,  O  king,  that  wisdom  ! 

Pardon  me,  my  dear  Sesostris,  for  presuming  to  teach 
you.  I  am  diffident  in  speech  when  present  with  you, 
but  you  perceive  I  am  bold,  perhaps  too  much  so,  when 
away  from  you. 

We  continued,  for  three  days  and  nights,  saiHng  upon 
the  rea,  without  a  shore  in  view,  and  in  a  few  hours 


ISRAEL   IX   BONDAGE.  451 

more  hoped  to  find  the  mouth  of  the  Nile ;  when  the 
wind,  after  a  sudden  lull,  came  round  to  the  south, 
the  air  was  darkened  with  clouds,  and  night  came  on, 
enveloping  our  ship  in  the  profoundest  gloom,  amid 
which  we  drove,  our  pilot  knew  not  whither !  It  was  a 
night  of  painful  suspense.  The  seas  dashed  over  us ; 
our  banks  of  oars  were  broken  or  washed  away;  and 
not  a  cubit's  breadth  of  sail  could  remain  on  the  mast, 
while  the  air  was  filled  with  sharp  sand,  blown  from 
the  Arabian  desert. 

The  passengers  and  crew  were  in  despair,  and  believ 
ing  that  every  succeeding  billow  would  go  over  us  and 
destrpy  us,  they  called  frantically  upon  their  gods !  The 
Syrian  cried  to  Hercules,  and  the  Sabsean  upon  the  sun 
and  upon  fire.  The  merchants  of  Tyre  prayed  to  Adonis 
and  lo,  the  Arabians  to  Ammon,  and  the  Egyptians 
vowed  libations  and  offerings  to  Apis,  Osiris,  and  Thoth. 
Our  pilot,  finding  all  hope  desert  him,  burned  a  cake 
of  incense  to  the  deity  of  the  sea,  and  vowed  an  obla 
tion  to  all  the  gods  he  could  in  his  extremity  call  to 
mind. 

Then  it  was,  O  Sesostris,  that  I  felt  the  power  and  ex 
cellency  of  my  faith  in  God !  Then  did  the  folly,  the 
vanity,  and  degradation  of  the  religions  of  those  about 
me,  deeply  impress  me,  and  move  me  to  pity.  Calm, 
serene,  confident  in  the  Almighty,  who  holdeth  the  sea 
in  the  hollow  of  His  hand,  and  directeth  the  stormy 
winds  and  tempests  of  the  skies,  I  lifted  my  heart  and 
my  voice  to  Him,  whom,  with  the  eye  of  instructed  in 
telligence,  I  beheld  seated  above  the  darkness  and  the 
whirlwind,  in  the  ineffable  glory  and  peace  of  His  own 
heaven,  and  directing  all  things  by  His  will.  I  felt  that 


4:52  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

He  could  protect  and  defend  me,  and  those  who  sailed 
with  me  ;  that  the  night  to  Him  was  as  clear  as  the  day ; 
and  that  even  I  was  not  too  insignificant  to  be  cared 
for  by  Him,  who,  in  His  love,  gave  voices  of  music  to 
the  little  birds,  who  painted  the  lily,  and  perfumed  the 
flower. 

j  "  O  Lord  God,  Holy  One,  the  Almighty,  who  art  the 
Creator  of  all  things,  if  I  have  found  grace  in  Thy  sight, 
hear  my  humble  petition,  which  I  now  offer  before  Thee. 
Let  Thy  presence  be  here,  and  Thy  power ;  save  us  who 
are  tossed  upon  the  great  sea,  and  who  have  no  hope  but 
in  Thee.  These  call  upon  their  idols,  but  I,  O  Lord  God, 
call  upon  Thee,  the  God  of  our  fathers.  Guard  us  in 
our  danger,  and  bring  us  in  safety  to  our  haven !  For 
Thou  art  the  only  true  and  living  God,  and  besides  Thee 
there  is  no  God  !" 

All  the  people  who  heard  my  voice,  as  I  thus  in 
voked  the  Living  God,  and  saw  my  hands  outstretched 
heavenward,  turned  from  their  idols  and  amulets,  and 
ceased  their  prayers  and  cries,  to  hear  me.  The  light 
nings  flashed  about  us  in  a  continual  flame,  so  that 
the  ship  seemed  on  fire,  and  I  could  be  seen  by  all. 

Judge,  O  Sesostris,  my  surprise,  when  instantly  the 
winds — which  at  the  first  word  of  my  prayer  softened — 
ceased  to  roar ;  the  waves  fell  level  with  the  sea ;  the 
clouds  parted  above  us,  and  revealing  a  bright  moon 
shining  down  from  the  starry  sky,  they  rolled,  on  all 
sides,  swiftly  away  towards  the  horizon. 

This  sudden  and  wondrous  change,  evidently  in  re 
sponse  to  my  prayer,  as  a  proof  that  it  was  heard  by  the 
Ear  to  which  I,  in  fear  and  hope,  addressed  it,  amazed 
me.  It  was  the  power  and  act  of  my  God  !  I  felt  it  to 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  45« 

be  so,  and  lifting  up  my  eyes  and  hands  to  the  cloudless 
skies,  I  said — 

"Thine,  O  Lord  Almighty,  thine  be  the  praise  and 
glory ;  for  Thou  art  the  hearer  and  answerer  of  prayer, 
and  art  loving  to  all  Thy  creatures.  Thou  hast  power  in 
heaven  and  on  earth,  and  on  the  broad  sea,  nor  is  any 
thing  hid  from  Thee.  Darkness  is  no  darkness  with 
Thee,  and  no  power  can  resist  thine!  Thanks  be  to 
Thee,  O  Lord  God  on  high,  for  this  manifestation  of  Thy 
presence,  and  this  confirmation  of  my  faith.  Let  these 
idolaters  likewise  glorify  Thee,  for  whose  sakes  Thou  hast 
also  done  this." 

When  I  ceased,  I  beheld  a  crowd,  made  up  of  all  na 
tions,  prostrate  around  me.  The  captain,  turning  away 
from  his  god,  was  burning  incense  before  me,  while  the 
invocations  of  the  crew  and  passengers  were  being  offered 
to  me.  With  horror  I  drew  back  and  waved  them 
away,  saying,  "  Else,  men,  stand  upon  your  feat !  Not 
unto  me,  not  unto  me,  but  unto  God,  the  one  invisible 
Creator,  give  thanks  and  praise  for  your  mighty  deliver 
ance  !" 

I  then  made  known  to  them  the  mystery  of  the  true 
God,  whose  power  they  and  I  had  witnessed,  and  ex 
horted  them  to  turn  from  their  idols,  and  worship  Him 
in  spirit  and  in  truth  ;  for  that  He  was  their  Maker,  and 
besides  Him  there  was  no  God.  Nevertheless,  but  for 
my  stern  anger  against  it,  they  would  have  sacrificed  a 
sheep  to  me,  as  if  I  were  Hercules. 

In  a  few  hours  we  reached  Pelusium,  and  to  escape 
the  adulations  of  the  people  on  shore,  to  whom  the  crew 
made  known  this  miracle  of  God,  I  withdrew  private 
ly,  and  went  to  Bubastis.  After  visiting,  unknown  to 


454:  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

them,  the  tens  of  thousands  of  my  brethren,  who  are  en- 
gaged  in  extending  the  walls  of  that  place,  and  increas 
ing  the  number  of  treasure-houses  therein,  I  took  boat 
and  came  hither  secretly,  for  fear  that  Moeris,  if  he  knew 
me  to  be  in  Egypt,  might  watch  my  movements,  if  not 
banish  or  imprison  me. 

I  have  now  bee.n  several  days  in  the  bosom  of  my 
family.  My  mother  and  father  are  well ;  but  they,  and 
Miriam,  with  all  the  other  women  of  our  nation,  have 
tasks  of  weaving  put  upon  them,  which  are  to  be  done 
each  day  before  they  are  permitted  to  sleep.  My  heart 
is  deeply  wounded  at  all  this.  On  every  side  I  behold  op 
pression  and  cruelty.  Daily,  scores  of  the  Hebrews  per 
ish,  and  their  dead  bodies  are  thrown  into. ditches,  dug 
for  the  purpose,  and  covered  with  earth.  Often,  the 
wretched  men  who  dig  them  are  the  first  to  occupy 
them,  for  the  work  goes  on  day  and  night.  An  edict 
has  been  published  throughout  all  Egypt,  within  the 
past  month,  that  no  Egyptian  shall  assist  a  Hebrew ;  and 
that  no  Hebrew  who  sinks  down  under  his  toil,  shall  be 
suffered  to  remain  upon  the  ground,  but  must  be  placed 
upon  his  feet  again,  and  driven  to  his  task,  until  he  sinks 
to  rise  no  more  ;  and  to  such,  neither  bread  nor  water 
shall  be  offered,  that  they  may  die  !  Such,  O  king,  is 
the  heart  of  this  Moeris  ! 

Yet,  with  all  these  extraordinary  measures,  inspired  by 
his  fear,  to  lessen  the  number  of  the  Hebrews,  they  in 
crease  in  the  most  unprecedented  manner.  The  women 
bring  forth  without  midwives,  and  are  put  to  no  incon 
venience  whatsoever  afterwards.  Such  a  state  of  things 
alarms  the  Egyptian  king,  and  well  it  may ;  for  it  seems 
to  me  to  be  a  direct  act  of  the  Divinity,  so  to  multiply 


ISKAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  45 £ 

the  people,  that  Egypt  will  be  compelled  to  liberate 
them,  and  send  them  forth  to  find  a  country  of  their 
own. 

There  is  a  prophecy  which,  as  1  associate  more  with 
the  Aiders — who  are  slow,  however,  to  give  me  their 
confidence,  regarding  me  still  as  an  Egyptian  in  feeling 
and  prejudices — I  ascertain  to  be  well  preserved,  that, 
at  the  end  of  about  four  hundred  years  from  the  days  of  V 
Prince  Abraham,  his  descendants  shall  come  out  of  Egypt  /  ' 
a  great  nation.    This  period  is  drawing  to  its  close.    God, 
who  can  deliver  from  the  storm,  can  deliver  from  the 
hand  of  Pharaoh  those  who  trust  in  Him,  and  call  for 
His  Almighty  arm  to  aid  them. 

MEMPHIS,  HOUSE  OF  AAEON. 

Since  writing  the  foregoing,  my  dear  Sesostris — for 
such  is  the  familiar  title,  notwithstanding  the  present 
difference  in  our  rank  and  position,  that  you  condescend 
ingly  permit  me  to  make  use  of  in  addressing  you — 
since  writing  the  foregoing,  I  say,  I  have  been  studying 
the  traditions  of  my  fathers,  the  Hebrews  of  old.  In 
them  I  have  found  the  following  prophecies ;  and  you 
will  observe  how  confidently  God,  the  Almighty,  is  rec 
ognized  and  spoken  of  as  the  one  true  God : 

"  Our  father  Abram,  the  Syrian,  having  been  born  in 
the  great  kingdom  of  Chaldea,  served  idols,  as  did  all 
other  men — the  knowledge  of  the  one  God,  being  yet 
veiled  under  the  multiplicity  of  gods.  Abram,  being 
just,  and  possessing  those  virtues  and  excellencies  which 
elevate  man,  it  pleased  the  one  great  and  mighty  God, 
only  and  true — who  made  all  things  in  heaven  above,  in 
the  earth  beneath,  and  in  the  seas  that  are  thereunder-  • 


456  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

to  make  Himself  known  unto  him,  as  he  was  one  day 
littering  a  prayer  to  the  sun.  Suddenly,  he  beheld  a 
hand  across  the  disk  of  the  sun,  and  the  earth  was  in 
stantly  covered  with  night.  While  Abram  wondered 
and  trembled,  the  mighty  hand  was  removed,  and  the 
day  was  restored.  Then  came  a  voice  from  above  the 
sun — 

"  i  O  man,  and  son  of  man  that  is  clay!  dost  thou  wor 
ship  the  creature,  and -know  not  the  Creator  ?  I  am  the 
Creator  of  the  sun,  the  heavens,  the  earth,  and  man  upon 
the  earth !  "Worship  me,  who  alone  can  create  light, 
and  who  maketh  darkness !  I  am  God,  and  will  not 
give  my  glory  to  a  creature  !  The  sun  is  but  clay,  and 
thou,  O  man,  art  clay  also  !  Give  me  thine  heart ;  wor 
ship  me,  the  Maker  both  of  thee  and  of  the  sun  !' 

"  Then  Abram  saw  the  hand  again  cover  and  extin 
guish  the  sun ;  but  lo,  instead  of  night,  the  universe  was 
lighted  by  the  brightness  of  the  hand,  which  shone  with 
the  splendor  of  a  thousand  suns,  so  that  our  father  fell 
upon  his  face,  as  if  dead,  before  its  consuming  splendor. 
When  he  rose  again,  the  sun  shone  as  before,  and  he 
fell  prostrate  upon  the  ground  and  said  : 

"  '  Lord  God  of  the  sun,  Creator  of  all  things,  what  is 
man,  that  thou  displayest  thy  glory  and  revealest  thyself 
to  him  ?  I  am  as  a  worm  before  thee  !  Teach  me  what 
thou  wouldst  have  me  to  do  P 

"  Then  a  still,  small  voice  answered : 
' i  Arise,  go  forth  from  this  Chaldea,  thy  country,  unto 
a  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey,  which  I  will  show 
thee  ;  and  there  I  will  make  of  thee  a  great  nation, 
who  shall  bear  thy  name  ;  for  I  will  make  thy  name 
great,  and  a  blessing  to  all  men  ;  and  those  who  bless 


ISRAEL   IN    BONDAGE.  457 

tliee  I  will  bless,  and  those  who  curse  thee,  I  will  curse  ; 
and  in  thee  shall  all  the  families  of  the  earth  be 
blessed !' " 

This  remarkable  tradition  then  goes  on  to  say,  O  Se- 
scstris,  that  the  Chaldean  hastened  to  obey  God,  and 
going  into  the  city~o7"TTaran,  where  he  dwelt,  gathered 
his  substance,  and  took  his  wife,  and  nephew,  and  all 
his  servants,  and  departed  from  the  land — being  then 
five-and-seventy  years  old.  By  a  sign,  the  Lord  God 
went  before  him  through  many  lands,  until  he  crossed 
over  the  river  of  the  king  of  Sodom  into  Palestine, 
when  the  Almighty,  taking  him  into  a  high  mountain, 
showed  him  all  the  land,  from  the  lake  and  fair  valley  of 
Gomorrah  and  Sodom  to  the  great  sea  westward,  and 
from  Libanus  on  the  north  to  the  desert  of  Arabia  on 
the  south,  saying : 

"  '  Lift  up  now  thine  eyes,  and  look  from  the  place 
where  thou  art,  northward  and  southward,  and  eastward 
and  westward,  for  all  the  land  which  thou  seest,  to  thee 
will  I  give  it  and  to  thy  seed  after  thee !  Arise,  walk 
through  the  land,  in  the  length  of  it  and  in  the  breadth 
of  it,  for  I  will  give  it  to  thee ;  for  the  whole  earth  is 
mine  !' ' 

"  Night  fell  upon  them  while  they  looked  from  the 
mountain,  and  the  Lord  God  said  to  our  father  :  c  Look 
now  towards  heaven,  and  tell  the  stars  if  thou  art  able 
to  number  them.  So  shall  thy  posterity  be.  But  know 
thou,'  said  the  Lord  to  him, '  that  thou,  and  thy  son,  and 
thy  son's  son  shall  be  strangers  in  this  land,  and  thy 
seed  after  thee  shall  also  be  strangers  in  the  land  shad 
owing  with  wings,  and  shall  serve  its  kings,  and  they 
shall  afflict  thee  four  hundred  years  ;  but  grieve  not,  for 

20 


458  THE   PILLAR   OF    FIRE,    OR 

the  nation  whom  they  shall  serve  will  I  judge,  and  after 
wards  shall  thy  posterity  come  out  of  that  land  a  mighty 
people,  wir.li  great  substance ;  and  he  whom  I  will  raise 
up  as  their  deliverer,  shall  lead  them  unto  this  land,  and 
they  shall  enter  in  and  possess  it,  and  shall  become  a 
great  people,  and  be  in  number  as  the  sands  of  the  sea 
shore,  and  as  the  dust  for  multitude.' ' 

Then  Abram  believed  God.  We,  O  Sesostris,  are  his 
posterity.  Are  we  not  as  the  stars  of  heaven  in  num 
ber,  and  as  the  sands  of  the  shore  ?  The  four  hundred 
years  are  drawing  to  a  close.  "Will  not  He  who  has 
brought  about  the  fulfilment  of  one  part  of  His  proph 
ecy,  accomplish  also  the  other  ?  Therefore  do  I  look 
with  hope  to  our  release,  ere  another  generation  passes 
away.  "Who  shall  live  to  behold  it  ?  Who  shall  be  so 
blessed  as  to  see  this  deliverer  that  is  to  lead  them  forth 
to  the  promised  land  ?  I  may  not  live  to  see  that  day 
of  joyful  deliverance  !  Perhaps  thy  son  Remeses  may 
behold  it.  That  land,  according  to  our  tradition,  is  Pal 
estine,  through  which  I  journeyed  when  I  visited  the 
ruins,  visible  above  and  beneath  the  Lake  of  Bitumen ; 
near  which,  also,  I  beheld  that  extraordinary  statue  of  an 
incrusted  woman,  on  whom  the  shower  of  salt  fell  until 
it  had  encased  her  alive,  and  transfixed  her  to  the  spot, 
as  if  hewn  from  a  column  of  salt.  The  people  of  that 
region  informed  me,  that  she  was  a  niece  of  Prince 
Abram,  overtaken  in  her  flight,  when  the  five  cities  of 
the  plain  were  overthrown  by  fire  from  heaven.  How 
beautiful  is  all  that  land  of  Palestine !  It  is  like  a  gar 
den  for  fertility,  and  is  filled  with  populous  cities,  and  a 
cultivated  and  warlike  people.  I  also  visited  the  city 
of  Salem,  where,  anciently,  King  Melchisedec,  the  wise 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  459 

sage,  and  friend  of  God  and  of  Abrarn,  dwelt.  It  is  now 
but  a  rock  covered  with  fortresses  and  the  treasure-city 
of  the  land.  Is  this  land  yet  to  be  given  by  God  to  our 
people?  Is  it,  indeed,  already  ours  by  the  title  of  God 
to  our  Abram,  only  waiting  for  us  to  go  up  and  possess 
it  ?  We  are  then  not  without  a  country,  though  in  bond 
age.  This  idea  elevates  my  heart ;  and  I  have  sought  to 
rouse  the  dormant  feelings  and  hopes  of  our  elders  and 
people,  with  the  faith  that  our  nation  has  a  country  re 
served  for  us,  by  the  God  of  our  fathers. 

But  they  shake  their  heads.  They  have  so  long  sat 
in  the  dust  of  despair,  that  they  have  ceased  to  hope. 
Still,  my  brother  Aaron  and  I  everywhere  try  to  lift  up 
their  feeble  hearts,  and  to  encourage  them  with  the 
bright  future.  But  one  of  the  old  men  answered — 

"  Thou  sayest  that  it  is  a  land  filled  with  a  warlike 
people ;  that  they  are  the  descendants  of  the  old  Phoe 
nician  shepherd-kings,  who  once  conquered  Egypt. 
How,  O  son  of  Pharaoh's  daughter,"  he  added,  giving 
me  this  appellation  in  his  anger,  "how  can  we  Hebrews, 
who  know  not  an  arrow  from  a  lance,  or  a  spear  from 
a  bow,  who  are  crushed  in  spirit  and  dwarfed  by  toil, 
how  are  we  to  conquer  such  a  land,  even  if  the  God  of 
our  fathers  has  given  it  to  us  ?" 

"  Does  not  this  foreign  land  of  which  the  stranger- 
Hebrew  speaks,"  arose  and  said  another,  by  the  name  of 
Uri, — whose  son  is  the  most  skilful  in  Egypt  in  devis 
ing  curious  works  in  gold,  and  in  silver,  and  in  precious 
stones,  having  served  with  the  queen's  royal  artificer,—- 
"  does  it  not  lie  beyond  Arabia,  and  are  there  not  many 
and  strong  kings  in  the  way,  the  armies  of  Edom,  of  the 
Hittites,of  the  Philistines,  and  of  the  sons  of  Ishmael ! 


460  THE   PILLAR   OF    FIRE,    OR 

Even  though  Pharaoh  were  to  bid  us  begone  to-morrow, 
to  the  new  country  of  our  God  that  we  boast  of,  could 
we  traverse  the  desert,  or  do  battle  with  the  nations  on  the 
way,  much  more  conquer  the  warlike  people  who  hold 
it  ?  Listen  not  to  this  Egyptian-Hebrew,  who  doubtless 
would  tempt  us  to  leave  Egypt,  that  we  may  be  de 
stroyed  by  the  warlike  people,  who  will  dispute  our 
march.  Doubtless,  Pharaoh,  his  former  friend,  hath 
sent  him  to  talk  with  us  that  he  might  thereby  either 
get  rid  of  us,  or  seek  occasion  to  destroy  us  in  a  body." 

Thus,  my  dear  Sesostris,  were  my  words  turned 
against  me.  Yet  I  will  not  fear,  but  shall  quietly 
strive  to  influence  my  brethren,  and  persuade  them  to 
look  forward  with  hope,  to  deliverance  by  the  arm  of 
God. 

Farewell,  Sesostris!  May  the  Almighty  give  you 
His  divine  Spirit,  and  fill  you  with  wisdom  and  judg 
ment,  that  you  may  honor  Him  as  King  of  kings,  and 
rule  your  people  mercifully  and  prosperously.  To  the 
beloved  queen,  Thamonda,  I  send  the  most  respectful 
greetings ;  and  thank  her  from  my  heart  for  giving  to 
your  daughter  the  dear  and  honored  name,  "Amense." 
May  the  virtues  of  the  pure  Queen  of  Egypt  be  trans 
ferred  to  her ;  but  may  her  life  be  far  happier  !  To  my 
namesake,  the  bright  and  beautiful  Reineses,  give  my 
cordial  affection.  Tell  him  that  I  hope,  when  he  shall 
be  a  man,  and  like  other  princes,  visit  Egypt,  he  will 
not  find  the  Hebrew  nation  there  in  bondage,  and  that, 
if  he  inquires  after  the  people  of  his  father's  humble 
friend,  he  will  be  answered — 

"  Their  God,  with  a  mighty  hand  and  an  outstretched 
arm,  led  them  forth  to  a  land  given  to  them  for  an 


ISRAEL  IN  BONDAGE.  4C1 

inheritance,  where  they  now  dwell,  free  and  happy !" 
Ah,  Sesostris,  shall  this  dream  of  hope  thus  be  realized  ? 
Tell  llemeses  to  lay  a  bunch  of  flowers  for  me  upon  the 
tomb  of  Queen  Fpiphia,  whose  memory  and  kindness  I 
shall  ever  cherish  deep  in  my  heart. 

I  once  more  write,  farewell. 

REMESES 


4:62  THE   PILLAK   OF   FIRE,    OR 


LETTEK   VI 1. 

AAEON   TO   KING    SESO6TRIS. 

CITY  OF  KAAMSES,  EGYPT. 

To  bESosTEis,  KING  OF  TYKE,  AAEON  THE  HEBREW,  GREETING  : 

PARDON,  O  king,  thy  servant,  for  addressing  an 
epistle  to  thee ;  but  when  thou  art  informed  of  the  rea 
son  which  has  led  me  to  take  this  liberty,  thou  wilt,  I 
feel,  acquit  me  of  too  great  boldness. 

Know,  O  King  Sesostris,  that  my  brother,  thy  beloved 
friend,  who  wrote  the  letter  which  I  send  to  thee  with 
this  epistle  (and  which  he  himself  would  have  forwarded, 
but  for  what  I  am  about  to  relate),  has  fled  from  Egypt, 
pursued  by  the  vindictive  power  of  Pharaoh.  I  will,  as 
briefly  as  I  can,  make  known  to  thee  the  painful  cir 
cumstances  which  led  to  this  result. 

The  morning  after  he  had  completed  his  letter  to  tnee, 
O  king,  he  said  to  me,  "  I  will  go  forth  and  see  my 
brethren  who  are  at  work  on  Lake  Moeris,  that  I  may 
talk  also  with  the  old  and  young  men,  and  inspire  their 
heavy  hearts  with  hope."  So  he  departed,  and,  crossing 
the  river,  disguised  as  an  Egyptian, — for  no  Hebrew 
dare  now  be  seen  walking  alone  for  fear  of  being  chal 
lenged  by  the  soldiers,  who  garrison  all  the  country, 
and  stand  guard  at  every  corner,  and  at  every  gate, — 


ISRAEL    IN   BONDAGE.  163 

he  came  to  the  shores  of  Lake  Amense,  the  beauty  of 
which,  with  its  garden  and  palace-lined  shores,  so  much 
pleased  thee,  O  king,  when,  five  years  ago,  thou  wast  in 
Egypt.  There  lie  saw  Kiiig  Mceris  clothed  in  scarlet, 
a  chain  of  gold  across  his  breast,  standing  in  his  chariot, 
as  he  slowly  drove  around  the  lake,  giving  directions  to 
the  chief  captains  over  the  works.  My  brother  was] 
/'not  recognized  by  him,  however,  and  went  on  his  way, 
Subserving  the  severe  labors  of  his  brethren.  In  the  two 
hours  that  he  was  there,  he  saw  three  strong  men  lie 
down  in  the  foul  water  and  die !  At  length,  coming  to 
a  place  where  several  young  and  old  men  were  working 
together,  he  beheld  such  cruelty  exercised  upon  them, 
that  he  groaned  in  spirit,  and  prayed  the  Almighty  to 
shorten  the  days  of  the  four  hundred  years,  and  come  to 
their  deliverance.  Unable  longer  to  behold  sufferings 
that  he  could  not  relieve,  he  walked  sadly  away,  deeply 
meditating  upon  the  mysterious  providence  of  the  Al 
mighty,  in  His  dealings  with  the  seed  of  His  servant 
Abraham.  After  a  little  time  he  found  himself  in  a 
narrow,  sand-drifted  lane,  between  two  walls,  when  he 
was  suddenly  aroused  from  his  reflections  by  a  cry  of 
pain,  accompanied  by  sharp  blows  with  a  stick.  He 
looked  up,  and  spied  an  Egyptian  taskmaster  dragging} 
by  the  hair  Izhur,  a  youth  whom  he  greatly  loved. 
The  Egyptian  had  pursued  him,  as  he  fled  up  the  lane 
from  his  blows,  and  was  now  plainly  intent,  in  his  great 
wrath,  upon  putting  him  to  death. 

My  brother,  indignant  and  grieved,  commanded  him 
in  a  tone  of  authority  to  release  him;  whereupon  the 
Egyptian,  cursing  him  by  his  gods,  drew  his  knife  from 
its  sheath,  and  wrould  in  revenge  have  driven  it  into  the 


464  THE   PILLAR   OF    FIRE;    OR 

heart  of  Izhur,  when  Moses  caught  his  arm,  and  bade 
the  young  man  fly.  The  Egyptian,  thereupon,  would 
have  slain  my  brother,  who,  looking  this  way  and  that, 
and  seeing  they  were  alone,  struck  him  to  the  earth 
.with  one  blow  of  his  hand,  in  the  name  of  the  God  of 
Abraham,  the  Avenger  of  his  people,  so  that  he  died  on 
the  spot !  He  then  hid  the  body  in  the  s^and,  and  re 
turned  home,  where  he  made  known  to  me  what  he 
had  done. 

N  "  Surely,"  I  said,  in  amazement,  "  thou  art  the  first 
Hebrew,  my  brother,  who  hath  slain  an  Egyptian.  A 
divine  motion  must  have  moved  thee  !  Perad venture  it 
is  by  thy  arm  that  he  will  yet  deliver  his  people  !" 

Thereupon  my  brother,  with  his  characteristic  mod 
esty,  said — 

"  Not  mine !  not  mine,  my  brother !  Breathe  into 
my  heart  no  such  ambitious  pride !  Yet  I  felt  moved 
and  animated  by  God  to  do  this.  Therefore  do  I  justify 
the  act  to  man  and  my  own  conscience." 

The  next  day,  my  brother  visited  the  lake  &gain,  in 
tending  to  make  its  circuit,  and  see  certain  elders  to 
whom  he  wished  to  make  himself  known,- --men  wise 
and  good,  who  were  superintending  the  work  of  others 
of  their  own  people.  On  his  way  he  perceived  two 
XEEebrews  striving  together,  and  as  he  came  up,  one  of 
them  struck  the  other  with  his  working  tool,  so  that  he 
staggered  from  the  blow. 

"  Sirs,  ye  are  brethren,"  he  said ;  "  why  do  ye  strive 
together,  seeing  ye  are  brethren?" — and  then  added, 
sternly  and  sorrowfully,  to  the  one  who  had  struck  the 
blow — 

"  Friend,  why  hast  thou  done  this  wrong  ?    He  whom 


ISKAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  465 

tliou  hast  stricken  is  a  Hebrew.  Do  not  your  taskmas 
ters  beat  you  enough,  that  you  must  strike  each  otKer  ?" 

Whereupon  the  man  who  did  the  injury  to  his  fellow, 
said  fiercely,  looking  narrowly  upon  rny  brother — 

"  Thou  art  Remeses,  the  Hebrew  '  son  of  Pharaoh's 
daughter!'  I  remember  thee.  Dost  thou  think  that 
thou  art  still  a  Prince  of  Egypt?  Moeris  is  now  our 
king.  Who  hath  made  thee  prince  and  judge  over  us? 
Thou  forgettest  that  thou  art  now  a  slave,  like  the  rest  of 
us.  Intendest  thou  to  kill  me  as  thou  killedst  the  Egyp 
tian  yesterday?" 

ISTo  sooner  had  the  man  thus  spoken,  than  Moses, 
alarmed,  perceived  that  the  thing  was  known,  and  be 
holding  the  eyes  of  the  Egyptian  officers,  and  many  of 
the  Hebrews  fastened  upon  him,  he  hastened  to  escape^ 
for  he  beheld  several  men  run  to  a  high  officer  of  the 
king,  as  if  with  the  news,  who  at  once  drove  rapidly 
away  in  his  chariot,  probably  seeking  Moeris,  whom  my 
brother  knew  to  be  not  far  off,  superintending  the 
placing  of  a  statue  of  Horus  upon  a  new  terrace.  Sev 
eral  Hebrews  would  have  interposed  to  arrest  Moses, 
when  they  heard  who  he  was,  for  they  look  upon  him 
more  as  an  Egyptian  than  as  one  of  their  brethren.  But 
he  succeeded  in  retiring  unharmed,  and  at  once  hastened 
to  recross  the  Kile.  When  he  had  told  us  that  what  he 
had  done  to  the  Egyptian  was  known,  and  that  he  was 
recognized,  and  that  Moeris  would  surely  hear  of  it,  his 
mother  and  I  advised  his  immediate  flight. 

He  said  that  he  had  no  doubt  the  king  would  seek  his 
destruction,  and  that  he  ought  to  be  cautious  and  consult 
his  own  preservation.  k'  But,"  lie  added,  "  I  do  not  fear 
the  wrath  of  Pharaoh  so  far  that,  were  I  in  his  power,  1 

20* 


THE   PILLAR   OF    FIKE,   OR 

would  either  deny,  excuse,  or  ask  pardon  for  ray  act 
What  I  have  done  I  will  justify.  The  oppressor  de 
served  to  die  !  And  so,  one  day,  will  God,  by  the  hand 
of  a  Hebrew,  slay  Pharaoh  and  all  his  hosts !"  This 
was  spoken  with  the  light  of  prophecy  in  his  noble  face, 
as  if  his  words  were  inspiration.  "When  Amrain,  his 
father,  came  in,  and  heard  all,  he  said — 

"  The  God  of  Jacob  be  glorified !  There  is  one  man 
in  Israel  to  whom  He  has  given  courage  to  smite  the 
oppressor  of  his  people !  Fly,  my  son  !  Fly  not  for 
fear,  for  thou  art  a  brave  man  and  hast  been  a  tried 
soldier ;  but  fly  to  preserve  a  life  which  my  spirit  tells 
me  will  yet  be  dear  to  our  people !" 

"  My  father,"  said  Moses  sorrowfully,  "  I  "believed 
that  my  brethren  would  understand  that  God  was  with 
me,  and  would  acknowledge  me  as  sent  to  be  their 
friend,  instead  of  joining  the  Egyptians  against  me  !  I 
will  fly  !  Mceris  would  rejoice  to  hold  me  in  his  power ! 
But  with  the  hope,  that  even  in  a  foreign  land  I  may 
serve  my  people,  at  least  by  prayer  and  supplication 
to  God  for  them,  I  will  keep  my  life  out  of  Pharaoh's 
hand." 

.•"  In  the  garb  of  an  Egyptian,  with  a  store  of  provisions, 
and  taking  gold  in  his  purse,  my  brother  embraced  us 
all,  and  departed  from  the  house,  my  mother  weeping 
and  saying — 

"  A  second  time  have  I  given  up  my  son  from  the 
sword  of  Pharaoh, — once  to  the  waters  and  now  to  the 
I  desert  sands !" 

"  "  And  the  waters,  O  woman,"  said  my  father,  "  gave 
him  to  be  a  prince  of  Egypt,  and  from  the  sands  of  the 
desert  God  can  call  him  to  be  king  over  Israel !" 


ISKAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  467 

I  looked  into  my  venerable  father's  face,  for  often  of 
late  years  lie  is  gifted  with  prophetic  inspirations,  and  I 
saw  that  his  aged  eyes  shone  with  a  supernatural  lustre. 
My  brother  returned  a  few  steps,  again  embraced  his 
mother,  bowed  his  head  before  his  father  for  his  blessing, 
arose,  and  went  on  his  way  eastward.  I  accompanied 
him  for  an  hour,  when  tenderly  embracing  we  parted — 
he  taking  the  way  towards  Midian.  Ru-el  Jethro,  the 
lord  of  that  country,  O  king,  which  was  settled  by 
M'tdian,  son  of  Abram,  by  Keturah,  thou  didst  meet  at 
the  table  of  thy  friend  "  Rerneses,"  when  thou  wast  in 
Egypt,  at  which  time,  thou  mayst  remember,  he  invited 
my  brother  to  visit  his  kingdom  in  Arabia. 

It  was  well  for  Moses  that  he  so  thoroughly  knew 
the  character  of  King  Moeris  ;  for  when  I  returned,  I 
learned  from  my  mother,  that  a  party  of  soldiers  had 
been  sent  by  Pharaoh  to  seize  him.  Another  hour,  and 
he  would  have  fallen  into  his  hand. 

At  my  mother's  request,  O  king,  I  have  written  the 
foregoing,  and  now  inclose  his  letter  to  you.  I  had  no 
sooner  entered  my  house,  than  I  saw  my  parents  and 
sister  preparing  to  fly  from  the  king,  fearing  his  ven 
geance  when  he  should  learn  of  the  escape  of  Moses ! 
Not  that  Pharaoh  cared  for  the  life  of  the  slain  Egyp 
tian,  but  he  would  gladly  seize  upon  the  occasion,  as  a 
pretext  to  destroy  his  former  rival. 

May  God  long  preserve  thy  life,  O  king. 

"Written  in  Egypt  by  thy  servant, 

AAKON  THE  HEBREW. 


AFTER  AN  INTERVAL  OF  FORTY  YEARS, 

EEMESES,  PRINCE  OF   TYEE  AND  OF   DAMASCUS, 

SON    OF    SESOSTRIS, 
VISITS    EGYPT,    AND     ADDRESSES    THE    FOLLOWING 

Series  of  Letters  to  his  Father. 


LETTEE    I. 

PALACE  OF  PHAEAOH,  LAKE  MCEEIS. 

MY  DEAR  FATHEK  AND  KING  : 

IT  is  with  emotions  of  no  ordinary  kind,  that  1 
find  myself  amid  the  scenes  familiar  to  your  eyes,  when 
forty-six  years  ago,  a  young  man,  you  visited  Egypt. 
Every  object  upon  which  I  gaze  is  invested  with  new 
interest  as  I  reflect — "And  this  my  father  also  saw.  On 
this  pylon  he  has  stood  and  surveyed  the  landscape; 
and  along  these  corridors,  his  feet  have  awakened  the 
echoes  which  respond  to  mine." 

The  letters  which  you  wrote  from  Egypt,  during  the 
reign  of  the  wise  Queen  Amense,  addressed  to  my  royal 
grandmother,  and  which  are  now  in  my  possession,  early 
familiarized  my  mind  with  this  wonderful  land ;  and  I 
recognize  every  place  of  interest,  from  your  descriptions. 

There  are,  however,  some  changes.  Pharaoh-Moeris, 
who  has  been  long  dead,  and  his  son  Meiphra-Thothmes, 
Thothmeses  his  grandson,  and  Thothmeses  IY.,  the  pres 
ent  king,  all  inaugurated  their  reigns  by  laying  the 
foundations  of  temples,  palaces,  and  pyramids ;  while 


ISEAEL   IN    BONDAGE.  469 

the  ruins  of  others  have  been  repaired.  Mceris  restored 
the  ancient  temple  of  Thoth,  in  the  Island  of  Rhoda, 
where  Prince  Remeses  was  hidden  three  months,  and 
also  all  other  temples  in  Egypt.  His  reign,  though 
tyrannical,  was  distinguished  by  improvement  in  arts, 
in  letters,  in  astronomy,  architecture,  and  arms.  His 
pyramid  is  an  imposing  one,  and  singularly  pre-eminent, 
by  having  an  obelisk  at  each  angle.  His  lake,  how 
ever,  is  this  Pharaoh's  greatest  monument,  if  I  may  so 
term  it. 

This  lake  was  begun  by  former  princes,  and  enlarged 
by  Queen  Amense,  in  order  to  receive  the  surplus  waters 
of  the  Nile,  when  the  inundations,  as  sometimes  happen, 
arise  and  overflow  the  fields  after  the  corn  is  up.  The 
lake,  however,  was  not  large  enough  wholly  to  correct 
this  evil,  and  King  Mceris  still  further  enlarged  it,  by 
means  of  the  services  of  the  Hebrews,  three  hundred 
thousand  of  whom,  it  is  said,  perished  in  the  work,  be 
fore  it  was  completed.  It  is  ample  enough  in  breadth 
and  depth  to  contain  the  excess  of  the  Nile.  One  of 
the  wonders  of  the  world,  it  is  only  paralleled  in  gran 
deur  by  the  pyramids.  In  the  midst  of  this  magnificent 
inland  sea — for  such  it  seems — arise  two  pyramids, 
upon  the  summit  of  each  of  which,  three  hundred  and 
eight  feet  in  the  air,  stands  upon  a  throne,  shaped  like  a 
chariot,  a  statue,  one  being  that  of  Thoth,  the  other  of 
Mceris.  Upon  the  former  is  inscribed — 

"  The  god  prospered ;"  on  the  other,  "  Pharaoh  build- 
ed."  Beneath  this  inscription  is  written — 

"  This  lake  is  three  hundred  and  forty  miles  in  circum 
ference,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  depth.  Within 
its  bounds  it  can  contain  all  the  rivers  of  the  earth." 


470  THE   PILL  A  J!   OF   FIRE,    OR 

This  sublime  work,  my  dear  father,  has  upon  the  east 
side  a  canal  eighty  feet  broad,  and  four  leagues  in 
length.  At  its  entrance  are  seated  two  colossi,  figures 
uf  Apis  and  Mnevis;  and  along  its  shores  are  double 
rows  of  trees,  bordering  a  terrace,  upon  which  face  pal 
aces,  villas,  temples,  gardens,  and  squares.  At  the  Nile 
termination  stands  a  single  colossus,  representing  the 
god  Nilus.  He  is  astride  the  canal,  his  feet  upon  the 
bases  of  pyramids,  and  beneath  him  are  great  flood 
gates,  that  let  in  or  exclude  the  waters  of  the  river.  On 
the  south  of  the  lake,  upon  a  plain  of  sand,  Mceris 
erected  a  vast  temple  to  Serapis,  dedicated  it  with  great 
pomp,  and  inclosed  it  by  gardens  a  mile  square,  the 
earth  of  which  was  carried  by  Hebrews  in  baskets, 
from  the  excavations  of  the  lake.  He  commenced  a 
noble  avenue  of  sphinxes,  leading  from  the  lake  to  the 
temple,  and  which  has  been  recently  completed  by 
Thothmeses  IV.,  who  last  week  invited  me  to  be  pres 
ent  at  its  inauguration.  It  was  a  magnificent  spectacle, 
first  the  procession  of  priests  and  soldiers,  nobles  and 
citizens,  with  the  king  and  his  court,  in  a  thousand  gal 
leys,  sailing  across  the  lake;  then  the  landing  at  the 
majestic  pylon,  the  march  of  the  procession  for  a  mile 
between  the  double  row  of  sphinxes,  the  mighty  temple 
terminating  the  vista,  and  the  solemn  invocations,  liba 
tions,  and  sacrifices  before  the  god. 

I  marvel,  my  dear  father,  at  such  splendor  having  no 
other  object  than  a  black  bull ;  such  glory  leading  to 
an  enshrined  brute,  before  whom  all  this  magnificence, 
power,  and  rank  fall  prostrate,  as  to  God !  Happy  am 
I,  O  my  wise  and  good  father,  to  have  been  early  in 
structed  in  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God.  I  pity  while 


ISRAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  471 

I  admire  what  I  see  in  Egypt.  This  king  is  an  intelli 
gent  man,  and  I  often  feel  like  saying  to  him,  "  O  king, 
dost  thou  believe  in  thy  heart  that  this  bull  is  God  ?" 

The  shores  of  this  vast  artificial  sea  are  lined  with 
groves,  palaces,  and  waving  fields.  The  sides  of  the 
Libyan  hills  are  terraced  and  adorned  with  marble  pal 
aces  and  gardens.  At  one  point,  where  the  cliffs  stretch 
into  the  lake,  are  four  .temples,  facing  four  ways,  respec 
tively  dedicated  to  Athor,  Pthah,  Apis,  and  Bubastis, 
the  four  deities  of  Memphis  ;  and  their  sides  are  covered 
with  golden  bronze,  so  that,  in  the  sunlight,  nothing  can 
be  more  gorgeous.  • 

Upon  a  small  island,  opposite  this  gilded  promontory, 
and  left  for  the  purpose,  Thothmeses  II.  erected,  during 
his  brief  reign,  a  temple  of  Syenite  stone  to  the  goddess 
Isis,  before  which  is  a  recumbent  figure  of  Osiris,  seventy 
feet  in  length.  Its  vestibule  is  enriched  with  sculpture, 
and  is  the  most  splendid  portico  in  Egypt.  In.  the  inte 
rior  it  is  surrounded  by  a  peristyle  of  statues  represent 
ing  the  twelve  constellations,  each  eighteen  feet  in 
height. 

Besides  all  these,  I  have  visited,  my  dear  father,  during 
the  six  weeks  I  have  been  in  Egypt,  the  "  Plain  of  the 
Mummies,"  the  Catacombs,  the  Labyrinth — a  marvel  of 
mystery  and  perplexity  to  one  not  initiated  into  the 
intricacies  of  its  mazes — the  chief  pyramids,  and  that 
also  of  Queen  Amense,  at  the  entrance  of  which  I  placed 
fresh  flowers  for  your  sake. 

Pharaoh-Moeris  greatly  extended  the  bounds  of  Mem 
phis.  It  is  not  less  than  twelve  miles  in  circuit.  He 
covered  .with  it  a  large  portion  of  the  plain  westward  of 
the  pyramids ;  and  where  once  was  a  barren  waste,  are 


472  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

now  streets,  avenues,  colonnades,  temples,  public  edifices, 
aqueducts,  causeways,  and  all  the  splendor  of  metropoli 
tan  magnificence.  Avenues  of  sphinxes  are  almost  in- 
numerable ;  colossal  statues,  obelisks,  and  pyramids 
meet  the  eye  everywhere.  Near  the  foot  of  the  hills 
he  formed  a  chariot-course,  that  extends  three  miles 
along  the  lake.  In  the  rock  of  the  cliff  he  caused  to  be 
hewn  fourteen  sarcophagi  of  black  marble,  and  of  gigan 
tic  dimensions.  In  these  he  entombed  the  bodies  of  as 
many  tributary  kings,  when,  in  succession,  they  died ; 
commanding  their  mummies  to  be  brought  into  Egypt 
for  the  purpose.  He  has  everywhere  multiplied,  with 
singular  variety,  his  statues  ;  and  in  front  of  this  tomb  of 
kings  stands  one  of  them  upon  a  pedestal,  the  feet  of 
which  are  fourteen  sculptured  crowns,  representatives 
of  their  own. 

But,  my  dear  father,  Egypt  is  so  familiar  to  you,  that  I 
will  not  weary  you  with  any  more  descriptions,  unless, 
indeed,  I  should  visit  the  City  of-  a  Hundred  Gates,  as 
you  were  not  able  to  go  thither.  I  will  speak,  however, 
of  a  visit  that  I  paid  yesterday  to  the  sphinx  that  stands 
before  Chephres,  and  near  Cheops.  I  was  impressed,  as 
you  were,  with  the  grandeur  of  the  whole.  But  the 
great  ancient  temple,  which  you  spoke  of  as  ruinous, 
has,  in  forty-five  years,  become  still  more  defaced.  In 
deed,  the  reigning  Pharaoh  has  expressed  his  intention 
of  removing  it  altogether,  so  that  the  pyramids  may 
stand  forth  in  solitary  majesty. 

Among  other  events  of,  the  reign  of  Moeris,  was  the 
discovery,  by  him,  that  the  tradition  which  represented 
the  great  sphinx  as  being  hollowed  into  chambers  was  a 
true  one.  He  found  the  entrance,  which  was"  beneath 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE. 

the  small  temple,  between  the  fore-paws  of  the  statue. 
What  he  discovered  is  known  to  no  man;  but  it  is 
certain  that  he  suddenly  displayed  vast  treasures  of  gold 
and  silver,  jewels  and  precious  stones,  with  which  he 
carried  on  his  magnificent  and  expensive  works. 

You  have  not  forgotten  the  Ethiopian  captive  king, 
Occhoris.  He  still  exists,  though  his  beard  is  snow- 
white  and  his  form  bent.  He  remains  a  captive,  each 
monarch  in  succession  retaining  so  important  a  person 
age  in  chains,  annually  to  grace  their  processions  to  the 
temples  of  the  gods. 

The  condition,  my  dear  father,  of  the  Hebrew  people, 
in  whom  you  are  so  deeply  interested,  has  enlisted  all 
my  sympathies  also.  Forty  years  have  multiplied  their 
number,  notwithstanding  all  the  ingenious  efforts  of 
the  Pharaohs  to  destroy  them  by  deadly  labors,  until 
they  amount  to  three  jmill ions  and  a  half  of  souls.  The 
population  of  Egypt  is  only  seven  millions ;  and  thus, 
for  every  two  Egyptians  there  is  one  Hebrew.  This 
alarming  state  of  things  fills  the  mind  of  Thothme- 
ses  IY.  with  ceaseless  anxiety.  He  does  not  hesitate  to 
confess  to  me,  freely,  his  fears  for  the  security  of  hia 
crown. 

I  have  not  yet  described  this  monarch  to  you.  When 
I  arrived  and  presented  your  letters,  he  received  me 
with  marked  courtesy  ;  inquired  after  your  welfare  and 
the  prosperity  of  your  reign  ;  asked  your  age,  and  when 
I  told  him  you  were  seventy-three,  he  said  he  knew  of 
no  king  so  aged,  unless  it  was  Jethro,  king  of  Midian. 
He  inquired  why  I  had  delayed  coming  to  Egypt  until 
I  was  forty-two  (for  I  told  him  my  age,  which  exactly 
corresponds  with  his  own) ;  and  when  I  informed  him 


472  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

now  streets,  avenues,  colonnades,  temples,  public  edifices, 
aqueducts,  causeways,  and  all  the  splendor  of  metropoli 
tan  magnificence.  Avenues  of  sphinxes  are  almost  in 
numerable  ;  colossal  statues,  obelisks,  and  pyramids 
meet  the  eye  everywhere.  Near  the  foot  of  the  hills 
he  formed  a  chariot-course,  that  extends  three  miles 
along  the  lake.  In  the  rock  of  the  cliff  he  caused  to  be 
hewn  fourteen  sarcophagi  of  black  marble,  and  of  gigan 
tic  dimensions.  In  these  he  entombed  the  bodies  of  as 
many  tributary  kings,  when,  in  succession,  they  died ; 
commanding  their  mummies  to  be  brought  into  Egypt 
for  the  purpose.  He  has  everywhere  multiplied,  with 
singular  variety,  his  statues  ;  and  in  front  of  this  tomb  of 
kings  stands  one  of  them  upon  a  pedestal,  the  feet  of 
which  are  fourteen  sculptured  crowns,  representatives 
of  their  own. 

But,  my  dear  father,  Egypt  is  so  familiar  to  you,  that  I 
will  not  weary  you  with  any  more  descriptions,  unless, 
indeed,  I  should  visit  the  City  of-  a  Hundred  Gates,  as 
you  were  not  able  to  go  thither.  I  will  speak,  however, 
of  a  visit  that  I  paid  yesterday  to  the  sphinx  that  stands 
before  Chephres,  and  near  Cheops.  I  was  impressed,  as 
you  were,  with  the  grandeur  of  the  whole.  But  the 
great  ancient  temple,  which  you  spoke  of  as  ruinous, 
has,  in  forty-five  years,  become  still  more  defaced.  In 
deed,  the  reigning  Pharaoh  has  expressed  his  intention 
of  removing  it  altogether,  so  that  the  pyramids  may 
stand  forth  in  solitary  majesty. 

Among  other  events  of,  the  reign  of  Moeris,  was  the 
discovery,  by  him,  that  the  tradition  which  represented 
the  great  sphinx  as  being  hollowed  into  chambers  was  a 
true  one.  He  found  the  entrance,  which  was  beneath 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  ±73 

the  small  temple,  between  the  fore-paws  of  the  statue. 
What  he  discovered  is  known  to  no  man;  bat  it  is 
certain  that  he  suddenly  displayed  vast  treasures  of  gold 
and  silver,  jewels  and  precious  stones,  with  which  he 
carried  on  his  magnificent  and  expensive  works. 

You  have  not  forgotten  the  Ethiopian  captive  king, 
Occhoris.  He  still  exists,  though  his  beard  is  snow- 
white  and  his  form  bent.  He  remains  a  captive,  each 
monarch  in  succession  retaining  so  important  a  person 
age  in  chains,  annually  to  grace  their  processions  to  the 
temples  of  the  gods. 

The  condition,  my  dear  father,  of  the  Hebrew  people, 
in  whom  you  are  so  deeply  interested,  has  enlisted  all 
my  sympathies  also.  Forty  years  have  multiplied  their 
number,  notwithstanding  all  the  ingenious  efforts  of 
the  Pharaohs  to  destroy  them  by  deadly  labors,  until 
they  amount  to  three  ^millions  and  a  half  of  souls.  The 
population  of  Egypt  is  only  seven  millions  ;  and  thus, 
for  every  two  Egyptians  there  is  one  Hebrew.  This 
alarming  state  of  things  fills  the  mind  of  Thothme- 
ses  IY.  with  ceaseless  anxiety.  He  does  not  hesitate  to 
confess  to  me,  freely,  his  fears  for  the  security  of  hia 
crown. 

I  have  not  yet  described  this  monarch  to  you.  When 
I  arrived  and  presented  your  letters,  he  received  me 
with  marked  courtesy  ;  inquired  after  your  welfare  and 
the  prosperity  of  your  reign  ;  asked  your  age,  and  when 
I  told  him  you  were  seventy-three,  he  said  he  knew  of 
no  king  so  aged,  unless  it  was  Jethro,  king  of  Midian. 
He  inquired  why  I  had  delayed  coming  to  Egypt  until 
I  was  forty- two  (for  I  told  him  my  age,  which  exactly 
corresponds  with  his  own) ;  and  when  I  informed  him 


4:74  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

that  I  had  been  engaged  in  improving  and  restoring 
my  kingdom  of  Damascus,  which  I  inherited  from  my 
mother,  and  which  the  Sabseans  had  thrice  invaded  and 
devastated  before  I  came  of  age,  he  expressed  his  pleas 
ure  that  peace  was  restored,  and  that  I  had  come  into 
Egypt,  at  last.  He  seems  naturally  superstitious,  credu 
lous,  and  irresolute.  I  think  he  possesses  little  or  no 
stability  of  character,  and  that  he  is  easily  influenced  to 
do  evil.  He  is  timid  in  his  policy,  yet  rash  ;  vain  of  his 
wisdom,  yet  constantly  guilty  of  follies  ;  a  devout  wor 
shipper  of  his  gods,  yet  a  slave  to  the  basest  personal 
vices ;  jealous  of  his  rights,  yet,  from  want  of  courage, 
suffering  them  continually  to  be  invaded,  both  by  his 
subjects  and  tributary  princes ;  a  man  whose  word  is 
kept,  only  so  far  as  his  present  interest  demands  ;  who 
will  pardon  to-night  a  suppliant,  from  irresolution  and 
morbid  pity,  and  execute  him  in  the  morning  when  the 
coldness  of  his  nature  returns.  Were  he  my  friend,  I 
should  distrust  him  ;  were  he  my  foe,  I  would  not  delay 
to  place  the  sea  between  me  and  his  sword. 

Under  such  a  prince,  you  may  imagine  that  the  condi 
tion  of  the  Hebrew  people  is  not  less  pitiable  than  under 
his  predecessors.  Fearing  them,  he  doubles  their  tasks, 
and  resorts  to  every  device  of  destruction,  short  of  open 
and  indiscriminate  slaughter.  Yet  even  this  infernal 
idea  has  been  suggested  by  him  to  his  private  council ; 
but  it  was  opposed,  on  the  ground  that  the  burial  of  so 
many  millions  would  be  impossible,  and  that  a  plague 
would  result  fatal  to  the  population  of  Egypt. 

So  the  Hebrews  still  exist,  feared,  suspected,  and 
crushed  by  additional  burdens.  I  have  been  among 
them,  and,  as  you  directed,  have  made  many  cautious 


ISKAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  475 

11  es  after  the  learned  Hebrew,  Moses.  They  are 
mo**,  nlightened  than  when  you  saw  them.  The  idea 
of  God  is  less  obscure  in  their  minds,  while  their  hope 
of  a  deliverer  is  bright  and  ever  present.  Few  of  the) 
old  men  remember  Remeses,  or  Moses ;  and  none  of  them 
know  any  thing  of  his  present  abode,  but  seem  sure  he 
is  long  since  dead.  I  have  become  deeply  interested  in 
some  of  these  venerable  men,  in  whose  majestic  features, 
set  off  by  flowing  beards,  I  recognize  the  lineaments  of 
Abram,  their  ancestor,  as  sculptured  on  the  mausoleum 
of  his  servant, "  Eliezer  of  Damascus."  The  beauty  of  the 
children  and  young  women,  amid  all  their  degradation, 
is  wonderful.  I  was  struck  with  the  seeming  good  feel 
ing  which  existed  among  these  and  the  women  of  Egypt. 
The  latter,  either  from  pity,  or  because  the  Hebrew 
women  are  gentle  and  attractive,  hold  kind  intercourse 
with  them ;  and  at  a  marriage,  which  I  witnessed  in  one 
of  their  huts,  the  Hebrew  females,  especially  the  bride, 
were  decked  with  jewels  loaned  to  them  by  their  friends, 
the  Egyptian  maidens.  I  have  also  been  struck  with 
the  patient,  uncomplaining,  and  gentle  manner  in  which 
the  Hebrews  speak  of  the  Egyptians,  excepting  their 
task-officers — who  are  brutal  soldiers — and  the  king. 
Generations  of  oppression  have  made  them  forbearing 
and  submissive ;  and,  besides,  the  Egyptians  and  He 
brews,  who  now  know  one'  another,  knew  each  other 
as  children,  before  either  could  understand  their  dif 
ferent  positions. 

Here  and  there  I  have  met  a  lord  who  recalled  your 
visit,  dear  father,  with  pleasure ;  but  were  you  now  here 
you  would  feel  a  stranger  indeed. 

Farewell,  my  honored  and  revered  father.     I  wrill  con- 


476  THE   PXLL4R   OF   FIRE,    OR 

tinue  my  inquiries  after  Prince  Remeses.  To  my  sister 
Amense,  and  her  husband,  Sinn-is,  king  of  Sidon,  give 
my  kindest  greetings. 

Your  affectionate  son, 

KEMESES  OF  DAMASCUS. 


MY  DEAREST  FATHER  : 

I  unseal  this  epistle  to  inform  you,  that  while  it 
has  been  lying  three  days,  waiting  for  the  galley  of  the 
Lord  of  Sarepta  to  depart,  I  have  had  intelligence  of 
your  old  friend  Remeses.  He  lives,  and  is  in  Midian, 
as  you  suspected,  and  is  well,  though,  of  course,  far  ad 
vanced  in  years.  This  is  all  that  I  can  now  add  to  my 
letter,  as  the  secretary  of  the  Sareptan  noble  is  in  my 
reception-room,  and  lingers  only  to  t-^lr*  tMs  letter,  the 
wind  being  now  favorable. 

Your  faithful  son, 

REMESEB, 


ISRAEL      tf  .BOHJ/1GE.  4:77 


LETTEK    II 

KEMESES   OF   DAMASCUS,  TO  HIS   FATHER,  KING    SESOSTKIS    OF 
PHOENICIA. 

CITY  OF  ON,  EGYPT. 

HAYING  an  opportunity,  my  dearest  father,  to  send 
this  letter  the  day  after  to-morrow,  I  will  herewith  make 
known  to  you,  how  I  obtained  the  intelligence,  that  your 
ancient  friend  Remeses  is  still  in  the  kingdom  of  Midian, 
whither  he  fled  from  King  Moeris. 

In  obedience  to  your  last  instructions,  I  have  dili 
gently  made  all  inquiries  that  were  likely  to  obtain  the 
information  which  your  lively  friendship  prompts  you  to 
seek.  There  is  something,  dear  father,  very  beautiful  in 
this  undying  attachment,  which  has  survived  a  period  of 
forty  years,  and  which  still  looks  forward  to  behold  the 
beloved  face  of  thy  cherished  friend  once  more  1 

Learning  yesterday  that  a  caravan  had  arrived  from 
Ezion-geber  (by  the  Edomites  called  Ekkaba),  which 
lies  near  the  head  of  the  orient  arm  of  the  Red  or 
Arabian  Sea,  and  not  far  from  which  are  the  borders  of 
peninsular  Midian,  I  crossed  the  ISTile  to  the  suburbs  of 
the  City  of  the  Sun,  where  the  caravan  had  found  quar 
ters  in  the  quadrangle  of  the  Serail. 

Having  found  the  governor  of  the  company  of  mer 
chants,  I  made  myself  known  to  him  as  a  foreign  prince, 


478  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

travelling  for  knowledge,  and  sight  of  men  and  scenes. 
He  courteously  received  me,  and  I  asked  him  many 
questions  about  his  country,  his  journey,  and  the  articles 
he  brought,  until  he  was  at  his  ease  with  me,  when  I 
inquired  if  he  had  ever  been  in  Midian.  He  answered 
that  he  himself  was  a  Midianite,  and  that  twenty  days 
before  he  had  left  Midian  to  join  the  caravan,  part 
of  which  belonged  to  Jethro,  prince  and  priest  of  that 
country.  Upon  hearing  this  name,  dear  father,  I  was 
struck  by  its  similarity  to  that  mentioned  in  the  last 
letter  of  Aaron  the  Hebrew,  as  being  that  of  the  king 
of  the  country  who  had  invited  Moses,  while  prince,  to 
visit  him. 

"  Dost  thou  know  this  Prince  Jethro  ?"  I  asked. 

"  I  have  sat  at  his  feet — his  hand  has  often  rested 
upon  my  head  when  I  was  a  lad,"  he  answered. 

"  You  call  him  a  priest,"  I  said ;  "  what  is  his  religion  ?" 

"  That  of  our  progenitor,  Abram  the  Chaldean." 

^  The  Hebrews  sprung  from  Abram,"  I  replied. 

"  Yes,  by  Sara,  his  first  wife.  The  Midianites  are  the 
sons  of  Midian,  a  son  of  Abram  by  Keturah,  the  wife 
he  took  after  Sara  died.  The  cities  of  Epher,  Ephah,  and 
Hanoch,  in  Midian,  were  founded  by  princes  who  were 
this  same  Abram's  grandsons,  and  sons  of  Midian." 

"  Do  you  worship  the  God  of  Abram — or  Abraham, 
as  the  Hebrews  call  their  ancestor  ?"  I  asked. 

"  Hast  thou  ever  heard,  O  prince,"  he  said,  with 
feeling,  "  that  we  were  idolaters,  or  fire-worshippers,  or 
that  we  pray  to  bulls,  and  beasts,  and  creeping  things, 
as  these  Egyptians  do  ?  We  worship  one  God — the 
Lord  of  Heaven — the  Almighty  Creator,  who  revealed 
Himself  to  our  father  Abram." 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  479 

When  I  told  him  that  I  also  worshipped  the  same 
God,  he  took  my  hand,  kissed  it  reverently,  and  said 
solemnly — 

«  There  is  but  one  God  I" 

"  What  is  your  form  of  worship,  that  your  king  is 
also  your  priest  ?"  I  inquired. 

"  By  sacrifices.  Morning  and  evening,  the  priests 
offer  up  to  God  incense,  and  oblations,  and  sacrifices  of 
lambs.  Hence  we  have  large  flocks  and  herds.  On 
great  days,  the  king  himself  officiates,  lays  his  hand 
upon  the  head  of  the  victim,  and  asks  the  Almighty  to 
take  the  life  of  the  sacrifice  instead  of  that  of  the  people, 
and  to  visit  upon  its  head  the  wrath  which  the  kingdom 
had  incurred." 

"  Did  Abram  thus  sacrifice  ?" 

"  Not  only  Abram,  but  Noah,  the  first  father,  and  all 
the  fathers  of  the  old  world.  Our  worship,  therefore,  O 
prince,  consists  in  offering  the  life  of  a  victim,  to  pre 
serve  our  own !" 

"  Yes,  if  the  great  Lord  of  Heaven  will  so  receive  it ! 
For  who  can  weigh  the  life  of  a  man  with  that  of  his 
lamb?"  I  said. 

"  None  but  God,  who,  in  His  goodness  and  glory, 
wills  it  so  to  be !"  answered  the  Midianite. 

"  Hast  thou  ever  heard,  in  Midian,  of  a  Hebrew  called 
Moses?"' 

"  Dost  thou  mean  Moses  the  Egyptian  ?"  he  asked, 
quickly. 

"  He  was  educated  an  Egyptian,  and  was  supposed  to \ 
be  the  son  of  Pharaoh's  daughter,  but  was  only  adopted  I 
by  her ;  and  being  discovered  to  be  a  Hebrew,  he  left/ 

Egypt." 


480  THE   PILLAR   OF   FlllJS,    OR 

"  This  same  Moses,  once  Prince  Remeses,  is  now  in 
Midian,  where  he  hath  been  these  forty  years,"  answered 
the  venerable  chief-captain  of  the  caravan.  "  He  is  son- 
in-law  to  our  prince,  who  has  made  him  ruler  over  all 
the  companies  of  shepherds  in  the  region  that  lieth  be 
tween  the  city  of  Keturah  and  the  sea,  and  even  to  the 
back  of  the  desert,  where,  on  the  sides  of  Horeb  and 
the  valleys  thereof,  he  feeds  his  flocks.  Moreover,  there 
also  he  meditates,  and  writes  in  a  cave — for  he  is  a  man 
of  vast  learning,  and  greatly  revered  in  Midian  as  a 
wise  sage.  He  is  married  to  the  daughter  of  the  Prince 
Ru-el  Jethro,  and  by  her  hath  had  many  sons,  but  two 
only — mere  lads — remain,  the  rest  having  died  early. 
Surely,  what  man  in  Midian  knoweth  not  Moses,  the 
ivise  shepherd  of  Horeb  ?" 

Upon  hearing  this  good  news,  dear  father,  I  rejoiced, 
in  anticipation,  at  the  pleasure  you  would  receive,  when 
you  should  read  my  letter  containing  the  pleasing 
tidings.  I  now  asked  the  good  Midianite  when  he 
would  return.  He  said  that  in  seven  days  he  should 
depart,  and  that  it  would  take  him  eleven  days  to  reach 
that  part  of  the  country  where  Moses  dwelt.  Upon 
this,  my  dear  father,  after  making  sundry  other  inquiries 
about  the  route,  I  determined  to  accompany  him ;  for  I 
knew  you  would  value  one  letter  from  me,  saying  I  had 
seen  and  spoken  with  your  friend  face  to  face,  more 
highly  than  many  from  the  hundred-gated  Thebes.  I 
shall  be  gone  but  one  month,  and  shall  be  well  repaid, 
not  only  by  seeing  Moses,  whose  noble  countenance  I 
can  just  recollect  as  a  pleasant  remembrance  of  my 
childhood,  but  by  conferring  upon  him  the  unexpected 
pleasure  of  hearing  from  you  by  your  son,  his  name- 


.3RAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  4-81 

sake.  Thiife,  « or  your  sake,  as  well  as  for  his,  and  also 
my  own  gratification  in  seeing  a  new  and  rarely  visited 
country,  I  take  my  departure  with  the  caravan.  After 
I  reach  Midian,  and  have  seen  your  old  friend  in  the 
land  of  his  long  exile,  I  will  write  to  you  fully  of  all 
that  may  interest  you. 

May  the  God  of  Abraham  and  of  Moses  have  you 
always  in  His  sacred  keeping. 

Your  loving  son, 

REMESES  OF  DAMASCUS. 
21 


1:32  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 


LETTEE    III. 

MOSES    TO    SESOSTRIS. 

LAND  OF  MIDIAN. 

.M.   /ENERABLE  AND  BELOVED  KlNG  AND  FRIEND  : 

WITH  what  emotions  of  joy  and  gratitude  I  em- 
bra  ad  your  princely  son,  Remeses,  I  can  feebly  express ! 
I  gi<  e  God  thanks  for  this  happiness,  vouchsafed  to  me 
in  my  eighty-first  year,  of  hearing  from  you  again,  and 
by  the  mouth  of  your  son.  I  rejoice  to  hear  of  your  wel 
fare,  and  prosperous  reign.  The  sight  of  the  young  Reme- 
ses  revives  all  the  past,  and  in  his  face  I  see,  with  delight, 
your  features  and  smile.  I  also  perceive  that  he  pos 
sesses  all  your  virtues,  and,  above  all,  that  you  have 
taught  him  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God.  His  pres 
ence  here,  and  his  readiness  to  come  across  the  desert  to 
see  me,  gratifies  me.  It  assures  me  that  I  am  loved 
by  you  both !  Although,  my  friend,  I  have  not  written 
to  you — for,  since  my  flight  from  Egypt,  my  life  has 
been  wholly  without  events — yet,  from  time  to  time,  by 
foreign  merchants  who  have  been  in  Tyre,  I  have  had 
news  of  you,  and  of  your  prosperity.  Until  I  beheld 
your  son,  I  believed  that  I  was  quite  forgotten ! 

(I  shall  keep  Remeses  with  me  as  long  as  he  will  re 
main.     My  way  of  life,  however,  is  humble.     We  are  a 


ISRAEL    IN    BONDAGE.  483 

pastoral  people,  and  my  occupation  is  that  of  a  shep 
herd  ;  for,  though  I  am  chief  shepherd  of  the  land,  jet 
do  I  not  disdain  to  lead  my  own  flocks  to  feed  upon  the 
mountains, — where,  as  they  browse,  I  meditate  in  soli 
tude  upon  God,  and  also  think  upon  the  sad  condition 
of  iny  brethren  in  bondage  in  Egypt.  Four  kings  have 
reigned  and  perished,  and  yet  the  sons  of  Jacob  toil  on, 
exchanging  only  one  oppressor  for  another,  each  more 
cruel  than  the  last !  But  the  day  draws  near  for  their 
deliverance,  O  Sesostris,  my  friend  and  brother !  The 
four  hundred  years  of  prophecy  are  drawing  to  a  close  ! 
On  the  arrival  of  every  caravan  from  Egypt  I  look  for 
intelligence,  that  a  deliverer  has  arisen,  who,  lifting  the 
standard  of  the  God  of  Abraham,  shall  call  on  Israel  to 
rally  around  it,  exchange  their  spades  for  spears,  assert 
their  freedom,  and  defy  Pharaoh  and  his  power !  Who 
will  be  this  hero  of  God  ?  Who  the  favored  man,  to 
whom  shall  be  committed  the  happiness  and  glory  of 
leading  the  mighty  Hebrew  nation  out  of  Egypt?  Will, 
they  hear  his  voice?  Will  they  acknowledge  his  au 
thority?  Will  they  have  the  courage  to  follow  him?  or 
has  the  yoke  of  Egypt,  so  long  bound  their  necks  down, 
that  they  have  no  hope  nor  desire  to  be  free  ?  Thus  I 
meditate  upon  their  fate,  and  meanwhile  pray  earnestly 
to  my  God  to  send  the  deliverer  of  my  people ;  for  the 
time  is  come  when  He  will  remember  His  promise  to 
Abraham,  and  to  our  fathers ! 

From  the  painful  accounts  that  your  .son  liemeses*. 
gives  me,  the  cup  of  their  bondage  is  full  to  overflow 
ing! — also  the  cup  of  Egypt! — for  the  same  prophecy 
which   foretells   their   deliverance   after   four   hundred 
years,  adds,  "and  the  nation  which  they  serve  will  I 


484:  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

judge."     Thus,  O  king,  do  I  look  forward  to  the  over 
throw  of  the  power  of  Egypt,  when  God  shall  send  His 
angel  to  deliver  Israel  from  beneath  Pharaoh's  hand  of 
iron. 

What  courage,  wisdom,  patience,  meekness,  faith, 
dignity  of  person,  and  ardent  piety,  must  the  servant  of 
God  have,  who  will  lead  Israel  out  of  bondage  !  What 
man  on  earth  is  sufficient  for  this  high  office  ?  What 
man  in  all  Egypt,  among  the  Hebrews,  has  God  raised 
up  and  endowed  with  these  attributes?  Alas,  I  know 
none !  They  are  all  oppressed  and  broken  in  heart,  and 
the  spirit  of  manhood  has  died  out  within  them !  But 
He  who  wills  can  do !  and  He  can  arm  with  power  the 
weakest  instrument  of  His  will !  Let  us  trust  in  Him  ! 
for  by  His  arm,  whoever  be  the  agent,  they  will  be 
delivered. 

!  During  my  exile  I  have  re-written  the  book  of  the 
life  of  the  Prince  of  Uz,  with  great  care,  and  a  larger 
share  of  the  wisdom  of  God.  At  the  same  time  I  have 
instructed  many,  in  Midian,  in  the  truths  of  God.  It 
has  also  seemed  good  to  me,  under  the  inspiration  of  the 
Almighty,  to  write,  from  our  divine  traditions,  a  narra 
tive  of  the  first  acts  of  creation,  from  the  beginning, 
when  God  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  down  to 
the  death  of  Prince  Joseph.  Of  this  book,  a  copy  has 
been  made  by  my  wife  Zipporah,  which  I  will  send 
to  you  by  Prince  Remeses  for  your  acceptance. 

With  greetings  of  true  and  holy  friendship,  I  am,  < 
King  Sesostris,  thy  servant  and  friend, 

MOSES  THE  HEBREW. 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  485 


LETTER    IY. 

REMESES  OF  DAMASCUS  TO  THE  KING  HIS  FATHER. 

CAVE  IN  HOEEB,  WILDERNESS  OF  MIDIAN. 

MY   DEAR   AND   ROYAL   FATHER  I 

I  HAVE  been  two  weeks  a  guest  of  your  venerable 
friend,  the  Hebrew,  Moses.  My  journey  across  the 
desert  was  agreeable  from  its  novelty,  and  ray -sensa 
tions  upon  the  boundless  waste,  were  combined  emo 
tions  of  solitude  and  sublimity,  similar  to  those  I 
experienced  on  the  great  sea.  Our  route,  after  leav 
ing  the  land  of  Egypt,  continued  eastward  for  five 
days — most  of  the  time  in  the  Arabian  desert,  with 
the  mountains  of  Etham  on  our  right,  far  to  the  south. 
Having  on  the  sixth  day  passed  round  the  western  horn 
of  the  Sea  of  Arabia,  we  turned  southwardly  into  the 
desert  of  Shur,  which  terminated  at  the  base  of  a  low 
range  of  hills,  of  mingled  cliff  and  pasture-land.  A 
valley  opened  between,  and  after  three  days'  journeying, 
amid  vales  filled  with  herds  and  Arabian  villages,  we 
entered  a  mountainous  region,  the  sea  being  on  our 
right.  Every  hour  the  scenery  became  more  grand  and 
rugged,  until  the  ridges,  constantly  rising  in  altitude, 
stretched  far  southwardly,  and  terminated  in  a  majestic 


4:86  THE    PILLAR   OF    FIRE,    OR 

twin -peaked  mountain,  midway  between  the  two  arms 
or  horns  of  the  sea. 

"  That  is  Horeb,"  said  the  chief  of  the  caravan.  u  It 
is  in  the  land  of  Midian,  though  remote  from  the  town 
of  the  king.  In  that  mountain  the  royal  flocks  are 
pastured,  and  there  you  will  find  your  father's  friend, 
Moses  the  Hebrew,  either  with  his  shepherds  and  flocks, 
or  in  the  retirement  of  his  cave." 

The  same  evening  we  entered  the  valley  of  Mount 
iioreb,  which  rose  in  sublime  majesty,  with  its  double 
crown,  far  into  the  skies  above  us.  We  had  turned  an 
angle  of  the  mountain,  which  rose  as  abruptly  as  a 
pyramid  from  the  plain,  and  were  entering  a  gorge 
through  which  a  road  lay  to  the  city  of  the  king — a 
day's  journey  distant — when  I  beheld,  from  my  camel, 
a  shepherd  standing  upon  a  rock  and  leaning  upon  his 
staff — his  sheep  reclining  about  him.  He  was  a  tall, 
venerable  man,  with  dark  locks  mingled  with  white, 
and  a  beard,  like  snow  for  whiteness,  that  descended 
over  his  breast.  There  was  a  majesty,  and  yet  simplici 
ty,  in  his  aspect  and  costume,  which  impressed  me,  as 
he  stood — the  evening  sun  lighting  up  his  kingly  visage 
— upon  a  rock,  like  the  statue  of  the  god  of  the  moun 
tain-pass. 

My  heart  instinctively  said,  "  This  is  Moses !" 

"  Lo  !  there  stands  the  son-in-law  of  Jethro !"  said  the 
merchant. 

I  immediately  caused  my  camel  to  kneel,  and  de 
scended  to  the  ground  with  haste  and  joy.  The  next 
moment  I  was  bending  before  thy  friend,  my  dear 
father,  crying,  with  reverent  feelings  of  emotion — 

"  I  am  Remeses,  son  of  Sesostris,  thy  friend !     Yen- 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.   **  487 

erable  father,  give  me  thy  blessing,  for  I  bear  thy 
name !" 

He  regarded  me  for  an  instant  with  surprise,  and 
then  raising  me,  embraced  me  and  said,  a  holy  radiance 
of  love  and  joy  illumining  his  face — 

"  I  see  thy  father,  and  hear  his  voice,  in  thee  !  "Wel 
come,  my  son  !  How  fares  the  good  king  ?  Hast  thou 
Ventured  across  the  desert  to  see  the  exiled  Hebrew  ?" 
he  asked,  with  a  smile  of  benignity  and  pleasure,  as  he 
gazed  upon  me.  "  The  sight  of  thee  brings  up  all  the 
past!" 

His  voice  was  disturbed  with  emotion  ;  though  I  per 
ceived  it  had  also  a  slight  natural  embarrassment  of 
speech.  I  related  why  T  had  come,  and  gave  him  yom 
messages  of  love.  He  took  me  to  his  cave,  or  grotto, 
which  is  like  those  of  the  sacred  priests  in  Lebanon. 
The  caravan  encamped,  near  by,  that  night,  and  I  re 
mained  in  the  company  of  the  wise  and  virtuous  sage. 
"We  conversed,  for  many  hours,  of  you,  of  Tyre,  of  my 
grandmother,  of  Queen  Amense,  of  the  Hebrews  in 
bondage,  and  his  certain  hope  of  their  speedy  deliver 
ance. 

How  happy  the  princely  old  man  was  to  hear  from 
you,  my  dear  father !  What  a  venerable  and  holy 
friendship  exists  between  you! — fresh  and  green  at 
fourscore,  as  in  the  fire  and  impulse  of  youth ! 

The  next  day,  I  accompanied  him  to  the  chief  city  of 
Midian.  There  I  beheld  his  matronly  wife,  Zipporalx, 
and  his  two  sons,  beautiful  and  ingenuous  youth  of  six 
teen  and  eighteen.  I  was  also  presented  to  the  vener 
able  Eu-el  Jethro,  or  the  King  Jethro,  now  one  hundred 
and  one  years  old,  but  retaining  the  full  vigor  of  man* 


4:88  THE  PILLAR  OF  FIRE,  OK 

hood.     He  described  to  me  pleasantly,  under  what  cir 
cumstances  he  first  met  Moses,  forty  years  ago. 

"  My  seven  daughters,"  said  the  patriarchal  Prince  of 
Midian,  "  were  with  my  shepherds  at  the  well,  near  the 
city,  drawing  water  for  the  flocks  ;  for  the  prince  of  the 
mountain  having  no  water,  had  thrice  sent  his  shepherds 
to  draw  it  from  this  well,  when  we  had  but  little  for  our 
own  herds.  I  sent  my  daughters,  thinking  that  they 
would  reverence  their  presence ;  but  the  mountain  shep 
herds  would  have  driven  them  away,  when  a  stranger, 
who  was  seated  by  the  well,  rose  up,  and  with  great 
courage  chastised  the  assailants.  Though  many  in  num 
ber,  they  fled  from  him  in  great  fear,  when  he  turned 
and  bade  my  daughters  remain  and  heed  them  not ;  and 
he  helped  them  water  the  flocks. 

"  When  they  returned  to  me  earlier  than  I  looked  for 
them,  I  inquired  the  cause,  and  they  replied — 
V  " c  An  Egyptian,  a  mighty  man  of  valor,  delivered  us 
'out  of  the  hand  of  the  shepherds,  and  aided  us  also  in 
drawing  water  for  our  flocks.'  '  Where  is  he  ?'  I  asked. 
4  Why  is  it  that  ye  have  left  this  brave  stranger  at  the 
well  ?'  They  answered :  c  He  is  an  Egyptian ;'  for  such 
from  his  dress,  and  speech,  and  looks,  they  believed  him 
to  be.  I  then  sent  my  daughter  Zipporah  after  him,  to 
invite  him  to  come  and  eat  bread  with  me.  From  that 
day  we  became  friends,  and  when  I  learned  his  story, 
that  he  was  a  Hebrew,  and  like  myself,  a  descendant  of 
Abram,  I  gave  him  Zipporah  to  wife,  and  he  was  con 
tent  to  remain  in  the  land,  and  is  now  the  greatest  and 
wisest  man  in  it,  for  God  is  with  him." 

I  was  much  interested  in  this  brief  account,  my  dear 
father,  and  believe  that  you  will  be,  as  it  is  a  connect- 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  489 

ing  link  in  the  life  of  Moses,  that  has  been  hitherto 
wanting. 

The  following  week,  I  retired  with  Moses  to  the 
mountains,  and  here  I  pass  my  days,  listening  to  his  sub 
lime  teachings.  Not  all  the  wisdom  and  learning  of 
Egypt  can  compare  with  his  sublime  knowledge.  The 
secrets  of  nature,  the  mysteries  of  creation,  seem  un 
veiled  to  his  intellectual  vision.  It  is  his  habit  to  pass 
an  hour  or  two  every  night  in  prayer,  upon  the  mount 
ain,  beneath  the  silent  stars,  communing  alone  with  his 
God,  as  if  he  were  the  high-priest  of  the  earth,  Horeb 
his  altar,  the  universe  his  temple,  and  his  theme  the 
Hebrew  nation  in  Egypt.  Ah !  my  dear  father,  if  God 
is  to  deliver  them  from  Egypt  by  the  hand  of  man,  my 
heart  tells  me  that  Moses  will  be  appointed  their  deliv 
erer  ;  for  who  on  earth  has  so  at  heart  their  misery,  or 
supplicates  Heaven  so  earnestly  for  aid  in  their  behalf? 
It  is  true  he  is  an  old  man,  seven  years  your  senior,  but 
his  step  is  as  firm  as  mine,  his  eye  clear  and  brave,  his 
natural  force  not  abated,  and  his  looks  those  of  a  man 
in  his  prime — so  healthful  is  this  mountain  life,  and  the 
simple  routine  of  his  days. 

He  has  written  to  you.  I  shall  be  the  bearer  of  his 
letter,  as  well  as  of  this,  which  I  write  in  the  door  of  his 
grotto,  facing  the  valley,  with  the  sea  beyond.  There 
go  the  ships  of  Ezion-geber,  and  the  galleys  of  Ind. 
Far  to  the  west  is  the  blue  line  of  the  shores  of  Ara 
bian  Egypt,  and  to  the  east  the  rocky  land  of  Arabia, 
and  Eastern  Midian.  The  prospect  is  sublime,  and,  at 
this  hour  of  sunset,  while  purple  mists  are  upon  the 
hills,  and  a  golden  light  upon  the  sea,  it  is  beautiful  and 
serene. 


£90  THE   PILLAR    OF    FIRE,   OR 

I  had  almost  neglected  to  inform  you,  that  your 
learned  and  eloquent  friend  Aaron,  the  brother  of  Moses, 
was  lately  in  Midian,  and  was,  for  a  time,  an  assistant 
priest  of  the  sacrifices  in  the  city;  but  has  now  returned 
to  Goshen,  where  he  married  many  years  ago.  His 
sister  Miriam  is  here  with  Moses,  and  is  one  of  the  most 
majestic  women  I  ever  beheld.  She  is  in  her  ninety- 
fourth  year,  but  is  as  erect  and  buoyant  in  her  step  as 
a  young  and  resolute  woman.  With  her  snow-white 
hair,  piercing  black  eyes,  and  queenly  mien,  she  looks 
like  the  venerable  priestess  of  the  sun  at  Baal-Phegor. 
The  Bother  of  Moses  also  dwells  at  Midian ;  but  I 
think  their  father  died  in  Arabia  Deserta ;  for  thither 
they  fled  from  Egypt,  before  coming  finally  into 
Midian.  Aaron  is  spoken  of  here  as  a  noble-looking 
and  stately  priest,  when,  in  his  flowing  robes,  he  used  to 
offer  sacrifices  according  to  the  simple  rites  of  the  Mid- 
ianites,  in  the  plain  temple  hewn  from  the  rock,  in 
which  they  worship  God. 

Farewell,  my  dear  father.  I  am  not  surprised  that 
you  love  Moses.  He  has  won  my  heart. 

Your  affectionate  son, 

KEMESES  OF  DAMASCUS. 


ISKAEL  IN  BONDAGE 


LETTEK    Y. 

* 

REMESES  OF  DAMASCUS  TO  SESOSTRI8. 

TKEASURE-CITY  OF  RAAMSES,  EGYPT. 

• 

MY  HONORED  AND  BELOVED  FATHER  I 

You  will  see  by  the  date  that  I  am  once  more  in 
Egypt;  and  I  am  here  under  circumstances  the  most 
wonderful  and  amazing.  Remeses — that  is,  Moses,  the 
servant  of  the  Most  High  God — is  here,  also.  My  trem 
bling  fingers  can  scarce  form  the  letters  legibly,  so  great 
is  the  emotion  under  which  I  now  write  to  you  !  But  I 
will  not  delay  to  give  you  a  history  of  the  events. 

I  wrote  to  you  last,  from  the  grotto  of  the  shepherd- 
sage  of  Horeb. 

The  following  day  he  led  a  portion  of  his  own  flock, 
from  a  distant  plain,  to  the  secluded  valley  on  the  rear 
of  the  mountain  of  Horeb,  away  from  the  sea.  Expect 
ing  his  return,  I  had  gone  forth  to  meet  him,  and  was 
descending  a  steep  path,  when  I  beheld  him  advancing 
before  his  shepherds,  and  leading  his  flock  up  the 
valley.  He  preceded  them  some  distance,  and  was 
quite  alone,  when  I  perceived  a  bright  flame  arise  by 
the  side  of  his  path.  It  rose  above  the  bushes,  which  it 
seemed  to  consume  without  smoke.  At  the  same  mo 
ment  I  observed  that  Moses  turned  aside  and  approach- 


492  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

cd  the  dazzling  fire.  In  an  instant  lie  was  lost  to  ii»y 
gaze,  and  enveloped  in  its  flame.  I  hastened  down  tho 
mountain-path,  surprised  and  alarmed  at  what  I  had 
seen  ;  and,  as  the  way  was  winding,  it  was  some  minute? 
before  I  came  to  the  valley,  where  I  expected  to  fine 
the  venerable  sage  consumed  by  the  flames,  that  ap 
peared  to  have  surrounded  him. 

Upon^  reaching  the  valley,  lo  !  I  beheld  the  shepherds 
fallen  upon  their  faces,  the  man  of  God  standing  before 
the  burning  bush,  his  countenance  like  the  sun,  and  his 
raiment  shining  with  supernatural  light !  My  soul  was 
seized  with  an  indescribable  awe  at  the  sight!  His 
sandals  were  removed  from  his  feet,  and  he  seemed  as  if 
he  were  standing  in  the  presence  of  his  God,  so  awful 
was  the  majesty  of  his  countenance.  He  appeared  to  be 
holding  discourse  with  one  in  the  flames.  I  was  trans 
fixed  to  the  spot,  and  fell  upon  my  face  at  the  sight  of 
this  stupendous  vision,  feeling  the  presence  of  the  Al 
mighty  there.  Then  I  heard  a  voice  utter  these  words 
from  the  midst  of  the  fire,  in  wThich  I  had  seen  appear 
the  form  of  a  man,  radiant  with  glory  above  the 
brightness  of  the  sun  : 

"  I  am  the  God  of  thy  father,  the  God  of  Abraham, 
x  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob." 

While  the  calm,  divine  voice  spake  in  still,  soft  tones, 
the  earth  seemed  to  tremble,  as  if  its  Creator  stood 
upon  it.  I  looked  up  with  fear  and  trembling,  and,  lo  ! 
Moses  was  standing  with  his  face  covered  by  his  shep 
herd's  mantle,  for  he  was  afraid  to  look  upon  God ; 
while  my  heart  sunk  within  me,  and  I  became  as  a  dead 
man. 

When  I  returned  to  consciousness,  I  heard,  without 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  493 

raising  my  face  again,  Moses  talking  with  the  mighty 
Angel  in  the  flame,  which  I  perceived  rested  upon  the 
thorn-bush  like  dazzling-  sunbeams  concentrated  there 
on,  but  without  consuming  or  changing  a  leaf.  It  was 
the  radiance  alone,  of  this  celestial  Person's  glorious 
presence,  that  constituted  the  wonderful  flame  of  fire. 

"  I  have  surely  seen,"  said  the  Yoice  from  the  flaming 
glory,  "  the  affliction  of  my  people  which  are  in  Egypt, 
and  have  heard  their  cry  by  reason  of  their  taskmasters  ; 
for  I  know  their  sorrows,  and  I  am  come  down  to  de 
liver  them  out  of  the  hand  of  the  Egyptians,  and  to 
bring  them  up  out  of  that  land  unto  a  good  land,  and  a 
large,  unto  a  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey, — the 
land  of  the  Canaanites  and  the  Amorites. 
y  "  Now,  therefore,  behold,  the  cry  of  the  children  of 
-Israel  is  come  up  before  me :  and  I  have  also  seen  the 
oppression  wherewith  the  Egyptians  oppress  them. 
Come  now,  therefore,  and  I  will  send  thee  unto  Pha 
raoh,  that  thou  mayest  bring  forth  my  people,  the 
children  of  Israel,  out  of  Egypt." 

Here  the  holy  and  divine  Voice  ceased.  How  did  its 
words  thrill  my  heart!  Had  the  mighty  God  of  the 
Hebrews  come  down  from  heaven  at  last  to  deliver  His 
people,  fulfil  His  promise  to  Abram,  and  also  make 
Moses  the  servant  of  His  power?  My  soul  was  over 
powered  with  the  thought. 

Then  Moses  spake,  in  accents  of  the  profoundest 
humility  and  fear,  and  said — 

"  Who  am  I  that  I  should  go  unto  Pharaoh,  and 
that  I  should  bring  forth  the  children  of  Israel  out  of 
Egypt?" 

And  the  Yoice  replied — 


494  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

"  Certainly  I  will  be  with  tliee ;  and  this  shall  be  a 
token  unto  thee,  that  I  have  sent  thee, — lo !  when  thou 
hast  brought  forth  the  people  out  of  Egypt,  ye  and  they 
shall  serve  God  upon  this  mountain." 

Then  Moses  answered  the  Angel  of  the  flame,  with  that 
meekness  and  humbleness  of  heart  which  characterizes 
him — 

"  Behold,  when  I  come  unto  the  children  of  Israel, 
and  shall  say  unto  them,  <  The  God  of  your  fathers  hath 
sent  me  unto  you ;'  and  they  shall  say  unto  me,  '  What 
is  His  name  ?'  what  shall  I  say  unto  them  ?'" 

The  inquiry  was  made  by  him  with  the  profoundest 
homage  in  the  tones  of  his  reverent  voice,  not  as  if  he 
doubted  God,  but  his  brethren.  Moreover,  he  now  be 
held,  as  it  were  face  to  face,  the  Lord  God  of  heaven 
and  earth,  whom  he  had  so  long  worshipped,  and  whose 
name  to  men,  neither  he  nor  any  man  knew.  And  I 
heard  the  Voice  answer — with  majesty  inconceivable,  so 
that  my  spirit  failed  before  it — and  say  unto  Moses — 

"I  AM  THAT  I  AM.  Thus  shalt  thou  say  unto  the 
children  of  Israel,  '  I  AM  hath  sent  me  unto  you !' >: 

Then  after  a  brief  silence,  during  which  Moses  fell 
upon  his  face  and  worshipped,  the  Yoice  from  the 
midst  of  the  fire  said  : 

"  Thus  shalt  thou  say  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  '  The 
Lord  God  of  your  fathers,  the  God  of  Abraham,  the 
God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob,  hath  sent  me  unto 
you.  THIS  is  my  NAME  forever  ;  and  this  is  my  memo 
rial  unto  all  generations  !'  Go,  and  gather  the  elders  of 
Israel  together  and  say  unto  them,  '  The  Lord  God  of 
your  fathers,  the  God  of  Abraham,  of  Isaac,  and  of 
Jacob,  appeared  unto  me,  saying — 


ISRAEL   IX  BONDAGE.  495 

u  c  I  have  surely  visited  you,  and  seen  that  which  is 
done  to  you  in  Egypt ;  and  I  have  said,  I  will  bring  you 
out  of  the  affliction  of  Egypt,  unto  the  land  of  the 
Canaanites,  unto  a  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey !' 
And  the  children  of  Israel  shall  hearken  to  thy  voice ; 
and  thou  shalt  come,  thou  and  the  elders  of  Israel,  unto 
the  king  of  Egypt,  and  ye  shall  say  unto  him — 

"  '  The  Lord  God  of  the  Hebrews  hath  met  with  us ; 
and  now  let  us  go,  we  beseech  thee,  three  days'  journey 
into  the  wilderness,  that  we  may  sacrifice  to  the  Lord 
our  God.'  And  I  am  sure  that  the  king  of  Egypt  will 
not  let  you  go,  no,  not  by  a  mighty  hand  ;  and  I  will 
stretch  out  My  hand  and  smite  Egypt  with  all  my  won 
ders  which  I  will  do  in  the  midst  thereof;  and  after 'that 
he  will  let  you  go:  and  when  ye  go,  ye  shall  not  go 
empty,  but  ye  shall  spoil  the  Egyptians." 

When  the  Voice  had  ceased,  I  heard  Moses  answer, 
and  say  with  modest  diffidence  : 

"  But,  behold,  the  elders  and  people  of  my  brethren, 
the  Hebrews,  will  not  believe  me  nor  hearken  to  my 
voice ;  for  they  will  say,  (  The  Lord  hath  not  appeared 
unto  thee.' " 

How  extraordinary,  O  my  father,  this  humility  of  the 
wisest  of  men !  How  impiously  vain  some  sages  and 
seers  would  have  been,  at  such  an  infinite  honor  as  the  ap 
pearance  of  God  to  them,  to  talk  with  them,  face  to  face, 
as  He  did  now  to  Moses, — veiling  the  ineffable  splen 
dor  of  His  glory  under  the  form  of  an  angel  enveloped 
in  a  mantle  of  dazzling  sunbeams, — His  presence  a  flame 
of  fire  !  But  see  this  great  and  holy  man  modestly  de 
clining  the  service,  considering  himself  mean  and  pow 
erless  when  compared  with  the  mighty  Pharaoh,  and 


496  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

utterly  unable  to  do  any  thing  for  the  Hebrew  nation. 
Forty  years  ago,  he  had,  indeed,  felt  a  divine  motion  in 
himself  to  deliver  them,  which  he  then  believed  was  an 
indication  that  God  would  use  him  as  an  instrument  for 
that  purpose :  but  forty  years  an  exile,  forgotten  by  the 
children  of  Israel,  and  being  only  a  ruler  of  shepherds, 
and  guardian  of  the  flocks  of  a  small  provin  ^e,  he  felt 
the  humility  and  insignificance  of  his  position,  as  well  as 
his  total  want  of  means  and  power  to  do  what  God  now 
commanded  him  to  do.  But,  lo!  God  condescends  to 
inspire  him  with  the  confidence  and  resolution,  the 
magnanimity  and  fortitude,  that  his  sublime  errand  de 
manded. 

The  voice  of  the  Lord  spake  and  said : 

"  What  is  that  in  thine  hand  ?" 

He  answered,  "  A  rod." 

This  .was  the  staff  with  which  he  climbed  the  sides  of 
Horeb,  and  guided  his  flock,  and  upon  which  he  often 
leaned  his  head  when  he  stood  and  worshipped. 

And  the  Voice  said,  with  authority : 

"  Cast  it  on  the  .ground." 

As  Moses  obeyed,  I  heard  first  the  rod  strike  the 
ground,  then  a  sharp  hissing,  as  of  a  serpent,  and  lastly, 
a  cry  of  surprise  from  Moses ;  when,  raising  my  face 
from  the  earth,  upon  which  I  had  remained  prostrate, 
fearing  to  look  upon  the  glory  before  me,  I  perceived, 
with  horror,  a  serpent  rearing  its  head  angrily  into  the 
air,  and  Moses  flying  from  before  it.  Then  the  Voice 
from  the  ineffable  light  said  to  him,  "  Put  forth  thy 
hand  and  take  it  by  the  tail."  Moses,  with  hesitating 
obedience,  obeyed,  put  forth  his  hand  and  caught  it, 
when,  lo  !  it  became  a  rod  again  in  his  hand. 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  497 

"  This  shall  be  a  sign  to  them,  that  they  may  believe 
that  the  Lord  God  of  their  fathers,  the  God  of  Abraham, 
the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob,  hath  appeared 
unto  thee,"  was  again  spoken. 

I  had  risen,  and  stood  upon  my  feet  in  terror,  at  be 
holding  the  serpent,  and  would  have  fled,  but  had  no 
power  to  move.  I  now  heard  the  Yoice  command  Mo 
ses  to  thrust  his  hand  into  his  bosom ;  and  he  put  his 
hand  into  his  bosom :  and  when  he  took  it  out,  behold, 
it  was  as  leprous  as  snow.  Then  the  Yoice  said — for  I 
heard  only,  not  daring  to  behold  the  Angel  more — "  Put 
thy  hand  into  thy  bosom  again."  And  he  put  his  hand 
into  his  bosom  again  ;  and  when  he  had  plucked  it  out 
of  his  bosom,  it  was  turned  again  as  it  was  before,  like 
his  other  flesh. 

Then  I  heard  the  Angel  of  God,  who  was  God  himself, 
say  to  him : 

"  It  shall  come  to  pass,  if  they  will  not  believe  thee, 
neither  hearken  to  the  voice  of  the  first  sign,  that  they 
will  believe  the  voice  of  the  latter  sign.  If  they  will 
not  believe,  also,  these  two  signs,  neither  hearken  unto 
thy  voice,  then  thou  shalt  take  of  the  water  of  the  river 
of  Egypt  and  pour  it  upon  the  dry  land,  and  it  shall  be 
come  blood." 

Then  Moses  looked  troubled  in  spirit,  and  said  unto 
the  Lord — 

"  O  my  Lord,  I  am  not  eloquent,  neither  heretofore, 
nor  since  Thou  hast  spoken  unto  thy  servant ;  but  I  am 
slow  of  speech  and  of  a  slow  tongue." 

This  embarrassment  of  speech,  my  dear  father,  which 
existed  in  a  slight  degree,  as  I  have  heard  you  say,  when 
you  knew  him,  and  which  proceeded  from  modesty  and 


498  THE   PILLAR  OF  FIRE,   OR 

diffidence  when  expressing  himself  in  intercourse  with 
others  (though  with  his  pen  he  is  powerful  and  eloquent 
beyond  all  men),  has,  no  doubt,  been  increased  by  his 
long  retirement  as  a  shepherd,  and  his  love  of  solitude  ; 
yet,  nevertheless,  he  is  the  most  interesting  teacher  of 
wisdom  to  whom  I  ever  listened.  But  no  one  save  him 
self  would  accuse  him  of  being  slow  of  speech  and  slow 
of  tongue. 

Then  the  voice  of  the  Lord  said,  with  a  rebuke  in  its 
tones — 

"  Who  hath  made  man's  mouth  ?  Or  who  maketh  the 
dumb,  or  the  deaf,  or  the  seeing,  or  the  blind  ?  Have 
not  I  the  LORD  ?  Now,  therefore,  go,  and  I  will  be  with 
thy  mouth,  and  teach  thee  what  thou  shalt  say  !" 

Notwithstanding  all  this,  the  heart  of  Moses  failed 
him.  He  trembled  at  being  an  ambassador  of  God  to 
his  people,  and  said,  with  great  fear  and  dread  visible 
in  his  countenance — 

"  Send,  I  pray  Thee ;  but  not  by  me,  but  by  the  hand 
of  him  whom  Thou  wilt  send." 

Thus  speaking,  he  fell  prostrate  before  the  Lord  and 
covered  his  face. 

Then  the  anger  of  the  Angel  of  the  Lord  seemed  to  be 
kindled  against  Moses,  for  the  flames  were  agitated  and 
spread  abroad,  and  shot  forth  fiery  tongues,  and  I  looked 
to  see  him  consumed.  But  from  their  midst  I  heard  the 
Yoice  demand — 

"  Is  not  Aaron,  the  Levite,  thy  brother  ?  I  know  that 
he  can  speak  well ;  and  also,  he  cometh  forth  to  meet 
thee,  and  when  he  seeth  thee  he  will  be  glad  in  his 
heart.  And  thou  shalt  speak  unto  him"  (the  dread 
Yoice  was  no  longer  in  anger),  "  and  put  words  in  his 


ISRAEL  IN  BONDAGE.  499 

mouth;  and  I  will  be  with  thy  mouth,  and  with  his 
mouth,  and  will  teach  you  what  you  shall  do.  And  Jie 
shall  be  thy  spokesman  unto  the  people  ;  and  he  shall 
be,  even  he  shall  be  unto  thee  instead  of  a  mouth,  and 
thou  shalt  be  to  him  instead  of  GOD.  And  thou  shalt 
take  this  rod  in  thy  hand,  wherewith  thou  shalt  do 
signs." 

Then  Moses  rose  from  the  ground,  and  bowed  his  head 
low  in  submission  and  obedience  to  the  voice  of  the 
Lord.  The  flame  had  already  begun  to  fade  slowly, 
until  it  appeared  like  a  golden  cloud,  which  now  rapidly 
melted  away  like  a  mist  touched  with  the  setting  sun. 
The  next  moment  it  was  invisible,  leaving  the  sacred 
bush  as  before,  green  with  leaves  and  brilliant  with 
wild-flowers ;  and  as  I  gazed,  a  pair  of  snow-white  doves 
lighted  upon  it. 

Then  Moses,  lifting  up  his  eyes  to  heaven,  said :  "  O 
Lord  God,  who  is  like  unto  Thee  among  the  gods  ?  Who  is 
like  unto* Thee,  glorious  and  fearful,  doing  wonders  ?  The 
Lord  shall  reign  forever,  great  in  power  and  holiness ! 
He  is  my  God,  and  I  will  praise  Him  ;  my  fathers'  God, 
and  I  will  magnify  His  holy  name  forever !  He  hath 
remembered  His  covenant  with  Abraham,  and  His  ven 
geance  against  the  nation  that  oppresseth  His  people." 

At  this  moment  I  beheld  Aaron  advancing  along  the 
defile.  When  he  beheld  Moses,  whose  person  yet 
seemed  bright  with  the  lingering  glory  of  the  divine 
Presence,  he  ran  to  him,  and  kissing  him,  said — 

"  Thus  did  I  behold  thee  in  my  vision,  brother !" 

"  Hast  thou  also  seen  God  face  to  face  ?"  demanded 
Moses,  regarding  him  with  affectionate  earnestness, 
"  that  thou  art  come  hither  from  Egypt  so  soon  ?" 


500  THE  PILLAR  OF  FIRE,    OR 

"  I  was  at  prayer  fourteen  days  ago,  in  Goshen,  when 
a  vision  stood  before  me ! — such  a  form,  doubtless,  as 
our  father  Abraham  beheld.  It  said  to  me,  'Go  into 
the  wilderness  to  meet  Moses.'  Then,  in  the  vision,  I 
beheld  thee  standing  in  the  mount  of  God,  and  the  glory 
of  the  Lord  shone  upon  thee,  and  thou  wast  talking  with, 
one  who  seemed  like  an  angel  of  God,  and  I  knew  that 
thou  wast  ordained  of  Him,  with  authority  to  deliver 
Israel  out  of  Egypt.  Therefore,  delaying  not,  I  am  come 
hither  according  to  the  command  of  the  angel  of  the 
Lord.  My  heart  is  glad  at  beholding  thee!  Speak 
now,  O  my  brother,  for  the  angel  said  to  me,  '  He  shall 
iell  thee  all  the  words  of  the  Lord,  and  all  the  signs 
which  He  hath  commanded  him.'  r 

Moses  then  told  Aaron  all  the  words  which  God  had 
spoken  unto  him,  and  how  the  Lord  had  sent  him  to 
deliver  Israel,  and  had  given  him  courage  and  power 
to  obey,  removing  his  fears  and  confirming  his  faith. 
Thereupon  he  showed  Aaron  the  rod  in  his  hand,  and 
<said,  "  If  this  rod  becomes  a  serpent,  as  it  did  before 
the  Lord,  then  wilt  thou  know  that  He  hath  sent  me, 
and  is  with  me !  for  this  is  His  sign." 

As  he  spoke,  he  cast  the  rod  far  from  him  upon  the 
ground,  which  it  no  sooner  struck  than  it  became  a  ser 
pent,  and  ran  swiftly  towards  Moses,  who  reached  forth, 
and  grasping  it  by  the  head  without  fear,  lo !  it  became 
again  a  rod  of  almond- wood,  as  before  !  The  other  sign 
also  Moses  showed  to  his  brother,  who  then  answered 
and  said — 

"  Thou  shalt  deliver  Israel,  and  I  will  be  thy  servant, 
and  bear  thy  rod  before  thee !" 

I  had  already,  by  the  invitation  of  Moses,  drawn  near 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  501 

to  these  holy  and  great  men,  and  walked  with  them, 
feeling,  prince  that  I  am,  the  deepest  sense  of  inferior 
ity  and  humility.  I  felt  that  I  could  be  the  servant  of 
both,  and  that  I  was  honored  when  taking  up  the  san 
dals  which  Moses  had  put  off  his  feet.  I  knelt  before 
him  to  put  them  on ;  but,  in  his  modesly,  this  prince 
appointed  of  God  would  not  suffer  me. 

The  two  venerable  brothers — one  eighty  years  of  age, 
and  the  other  eighty-three — now  walked  together  to 
wards  the  shepherd's  cave  on  the  mountain-side,  dis 
coursing  of  the  wonderful  and  joyful  events  which  had 
just  passed,  of  the  promised  deliverance  of  Israel,  and 
how  God  would  accomplish  it,  and  by  what  sort  of  ex 
ercise  of  power  and  majesty. 

The  next  day  Moses  returned  to  Jethro,  and  said  to 
him — 

"  I  pray  thee  let  me  go,  and  return  unto  my  people 
which  are  in  Egypt,  and  see  how  they  fare,  and  if  my 
brethren  of  the  family  of  Levi  be  yet  alive — for  the 
Lord  hath  shown  me  that  all  the  men  are  dead  which 
sought  my  life."  And  his  venerable  father-in-law  said — 
fit  Go  in  peace." 

Therefore,  my  dear  father,  three  days  afterwards, 
Moses,  accompanied  by  his  brother  and  myself,  took 
leave  of  Jethro,  and  taking  his  wife  and  son,  and  hold 
ing  the  "  rod  of  God"  in  his  hand,  left  Midian.  The 
next  day  we  fell  in  with  a  caravan  from  the  East,  and 
after  many  days  I  once  more  reached  Egypt.  In  sight 
of  On,  I  parted  from  Moses,  who  went  with  his  family 
to  that  part  of  the  land  of  Goshen  where  his  tribe 


502  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRk,    OR 

dwells,  which  is  not  far  from  the  treasure-city  of  Ra- 
amses. 

The  first  hours  I  could  command,  after  reaching  the 
palace  of  the  Governor  of  On,  with  whom  I  dwell  as  a 
guest,  I  have  devoted,  my  dear  father,  to  a  recital  of 
these  extraordinary  events.  Moses  seems  to  be  a  dif 
ferent  man!  calm  majesty  sits  enthroned  upon  his  brow, 
and  lie  is  profoundly  impressed  with  the  sublime  mis 
sion  which  Heaven  has  intrusted  to  him. 

Aaron,  who  has,  from  time  to  time,  revisited  Egypt, 
and  is  well  known  to  the  elders  of  his  people,  will  be  a 
great  support  and  aid  to  Moses,  in  his  intercourse  with 
the  Hebrews.  The  two  mighty  brothers  are  now  assem 
bling  the  elders  together,  though  it  is  but  two  days 
since  they  returned  to  Egypt.  Secretly,  messengers 
have  been  going  by  night  throughout  the  land  of 
Goshen,  calling  an  assembly,  in  the  name  of  the  God  of 
Abraham,  to  meet,  two  nights  hence,  at  the  ruined 
fountain  of  Jacob. 

I  shall  also  be  jpfesent,  dear  father,  by  permission  ot 
the  inspired  Moses.  "What  infinite  issues  will  grow  out 
of  that  midnight  meeting  of  these  "  sons  of  God,"  for 
such,  though  in  bondage,  are  these  Hebrews  shown  to 
be!  How  little  Thothmes-Arnosis,  who  calls  himself 
also,  vainly,  after  Amunophis,  the  Great,  and  assumes 
the  style,  "  Upholder  of  worlds,"  "  Lord  of  the  Dia 
dem  of  Heaven,"  and  "  Beloved  of  the  Sun,"  upon  his 
cartouch, — how  little,  I  repeat,  he  dreams  that  One 
mightier  than  he,  the  Upholder  of  the  universe,  very 
Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  and  Creator  of  the  sun,  is 
armed  with  vengeance  against  him,  and  will  presently 
bring  him  into  judgment  for  the  bondage  of  the  He- 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  503 

brews !  I  saw  him  this  morning  in  his  palace,  for  he  is 
now  in  his  palace  at  On,  having  hastened  to  pay  him 
my  homage  after  my  absence.  He  was  in  gay  humor, 
for  news  had  reached  him  that  his  "  lord  of'  the  mines" 
had  opened  a  new  vein  of  silver?  in  the  southern  moun 
tains  near  Ethiopia. 

"  I  will  send  one  hundred  thousand  of  these  Hebrews 
to  work  it,  O  prince,"  he  said.  "I  will,  to-morrow,  give 
orders  to  all  the  governors,  and  chief  captains,  and 
officers  over  them,  to  choose  me  the  strongest  and  most 
dangerous,  and  assemble  them  in  companies  of  thou 
sands,  and,  under  strong  guard,  march  them  to  the  The- 
ba'id.  By  the  gods !  yesterday  I  was  planning  some 
new  device  to  destroy  their  children,  male  and  female ; 
but  the  mines"  come  happily  to  my  aid  !" 

Thus  does  this  proud,  weak,  luxurious,  and  cruel 
monarch,  confident  of  power,  and  sitting  as  a  god  upon 
his  throne,  acknowledging  no  power  above  his  own, 
dream  of  wealth,  and  rejoice  in  dominion ! 

Did  policy  prompt  me  to  give  him* warning?  I  fear 
ed  the  God  of  Moses  more  than  I  sympathized  with  a 
contemporaneous  prince,  albeit  Tyre  was  his  ally. 

Farewell,  my  dear  father. 

My  next  letter  will,  no  doubt,  convey  to  you  startling 
tidings. 

Your  affectionate  son, 

REMESES  OF  DAMASCUS. 


504  THE  PILLAR  OF  FIRE,    OR 


LETTEE     VI. 

REMESES   OF   DAMASCUS   TO   KING   SESOSTRIS. 

CITY  OF  ON,  EGYPT. 

MY  DEAR  FATHER: 

THE  secret  assembly  of  the  elders,  called  by 
Moses,  met  last  night.  It  was  in  a  solitary  place,  far 
from  any  of  the  garrisons  of  soldiers.  In  the  disguise  of 
a  Hebrew,  I  also  was  present,  standing  by  Aaron.  It 
was  after  midnight  before  all  the  elders  could  elude  the 
vigilance  of  their  officers,  and  had  assembled.  The 
well  of  Jacob,  you  recollect.  It  is  where  you  had  the 
conversation  with  Remeses  (now  Moses),  upon  the  con 
dition  of  the  Hebrews.  The  Egyptian  soldiers,  who  are 
very  superstitious,  will  not  venture  near  this  desolate 
fountain  by  night ;  for  the  tradition  is,  that  it  leads  to  the 
realms  of  the  lower  world,  and  that  there  are  evil  beings 
who  issue  from  it  in  the  darkness,  and  drag  under  the 
earth  all  who  walk  past  it.  The  Hebrews  have  no  such 
superstition,  or  despised  their  fears  on  an  occasion  like 
the  present.  Aaron,  in  selecting  the  spot,  knew  it 
would  be  safe  from  intrusion  on  the  part  of  the  Egyp 
tians. 

It  was  a  sublime  spectacle  to  see  no  less  than  four 


ISEAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  505 

hundred  and  eighty  elders  of  the  Hebrews,  forty  out  of 
each  tribe,  met  together  beneath  the  aged  palm-trees 
that  overshadowed  the  fountain,  and  where  Jacob  had 
sat,  with  his  sons  about  him,  in  peace,  under  the  pro 
tecting  sceptre  of  the  king  of  that  day. 

The  moon  shone  here  and  there  upon  a  silvery  head, 
while  others  were  grouped  in  shadow.  There  was  a 
deep,  expecting  silence.  At  length  Aaron  stood  up  in 
their  midst,  his  venerable  figure  visible  to  all  present, 
as  the  pale  moonlight  fell  upon  him — 

"  Men  and  brethren,  Hebrews  of  the  house  of  Abra 
ham  our  father,  hear,  while  I  make  known  to  you  why 
I  have  called  this  strange  meeting — for  when  before  has 
Israel  met  in  such  an  assembly  !  Your  presence,  your 
readiness  to  come,  your  courage,  and  your  success  in 
reaching  here,  all  show  to  me  the  hand  of  God,  and  the 
power  of  God." 

Aaron  then  gave  a  history  of  the  origin  of  their  na 
tion,  of  God's  promise  to  Abraham,  of  his  prophecy  ot 
their  bondage  and  deliverance,  and  his  promise  to  give 
them  the  land  of  the  Canaanites.  They  listened  with 
deep  attention,  for  he  spoke  with  remarkable  eloquence. 
He  then  said,  "  The  hour  of  our  deliverance  is  at  hand. 
God  has  remembered  His  promise,  and  come  down  to 
our  deliverance."  Then,  with  thrilling  power,  the  ven 
erable  speaker  described  the  scene  at  the  burning  bush 
on  Horeb,  and,  in  conclusion,  presented  Moses,  his 
brother,  to  the  elders.  He  was  received  with  a  murmur 
of  satisfaction ;  but  some  doubted.  Others  remembered 
that  he  had  been  raised  an  Egyptian,  and  openly  ex 
pressed  their  fear  that  it  was  a  plan  to  betray  them  into 
22 


506  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

a   movement,  that  would  give  Pharaoh  an  excuse  to 
destroy  them  all. 

"  Let  us  see  his  miracles !    If  God  sent  him,  let  us  see 
his  rod  become  a  serpent   hefore   our  faces,"  said   an 
man  brutally  and  tauntingly. 

Moses  took  the  rod  from  the  hand  of  his  brother,  and 
said  with  sternness — 

"  Thou  shalt  see  and  believe !" 

He  then  cast  it  upon  the  ground,  when  it  not  only 
became  a  serpent,  but  its  scales  glittered  like  fire. 
With  fierce  hissing  it  coiled  itself  about  the  form  of  the 
doubter,  and  lifting  its  head  above  his  own,  darted  it 
every  way  with  flashing  eyes,  so  that  there  was  a  uni 
versal  cry  of  horror.  The  wretched  old  man  fell  to  the 
ground,  the  serpent  uncoiled  from  his  form,  and  Moses 
taking  it  by  the  tail  it  became  a  rod  again  in  his  hand  ! 

At  this  miracle,  the  whole  assembly,  save  one  man 
became  convinced  that  Moses  had  been  sent  by  Gxl  to 
them.  This  one  said — 

u  It  is  the  magician's  art !  He  hath  been  an  Egyptian 
priest,  and  know^s  their  mysteries." 

Upon  this,  Moses  said — 

"  Korah,  I  remember  thee !  I  was  educated  a&  at* 
Egyptian,  but  I  know  none  of  their  magic ;  and  to  show 
thee  that  this  is  the  power  of  God,  thrust  thy  hand  into 
thy  bosom !" 

The  man  obeyed. 

"  Take  it  forth !"  said  Moses,  in  a  tone  of  command 

He  did  so  and  it  was  leprous  as  snow,  and  the  moon 
glared  upon  it,  as  upon  the  alabaster  Land  of  a  statue. 
He  uttered  a  cry  of  horror. 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  507 

*c  Be  not  unbelieving,"  said  Moses.  "  Replace  thy 
hand  in  thy  bosom."  He  did  so,  and  took  it  out 
restored  like  the  other.  The  man  who  had  been  en 
twined  by  the  serpent  also  rose  to  his  feet,  and  both 
acknowledged  the  power  of  God,  and  the  authority  of 
Moses.  He  now  made  known  to  them  that  God  had 
sent  him  to  demand  their  release  from  Pharaoh;  and 
that  the  king  would  at  first  refuse,  but  that  after  he  had 
seen  the  power  of  God  he  would  yield  and  let  them  go 
forth  out  of  Egypt,  to  the  good  land  promised  to  Abra 
ham  for  his  seed,  forever. 

"  Return  now,  elders  and  brethren,"  he  said  to  them, 
like  one  who  spake  by  authority  to  those  who  recog 
nized  it,  "  return  to  your  places  of  toil.  Be  quiet  and 
patient,  and  wait  the  hand  of  God.  He  will  manifest 
His  glory  and  display  His  power  in  your  behalf,  as  was 
never  done  on  earth  before.  Bear  patiently  your  labors, 
and  do  not  doubt  that  the  time  of  your  deliverance  is 
at  hand.  Let  all  Israel  know  the  glad  tidings  of  God's 
visitation,  and  that  He  has  surely  stretched  out  His  arm 
over  Egypt,  to  break  their  yoke  of  bondage." 

This  extraordinary  assembly  then  separated,  each  man 
to  his  place ;  and  Moses  and  Aaron  went  to  the  house  of 
one  Naashon,  a  Levite,  whose  sister  had  become 
Aaron's  wife  many  years  before.  Here  I  remained 
until  morning ;  but  no  eye  closed  in  sleep,  for  many  had 
followed  the  brothers,  and  till  dawn  they  were  holding 
discourse  with  their  friends,  on  the  wonderful  things 
about  to  happen. 

Moses  said  he  should  go  before  Pharaoh  the  next  day 
but  one,  when  he  held  public  audience  in  the  throne- 


50?  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

room,  that  great  liall  of  Egyptian  state,  wliich,  my  dear 
fither  you  once  described,  and  where  you  were  pre- 
(ented  to  Queen  Ainense,  as  she  was  seated  upon  the 
>ame  throne. 

Farewell,  my  dear  father.     In  three  days  I  will  write 
y  DU  again. 

REMESES  OF  DAMASCUS. 


ISRAEL  IN  BONDAGE  509 


LETTER   YI  L. 

REMESE8  OF  DAMASCUS  TO   SESOSTKIS. 

CITY  OF  ON,  EGYPT. 
MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

MOSES  has  met  Pharaoh,  face  to  face,  and  de 
manded  of  him  the  liberty  of  the  Hebrew  nation !  The 
scene  in  the  throne-room  was  deeply  interesting  and 
striking ;  and  I  will  endeavor  briefly  to  convey  to  you 
a  conception  of  it. 

The  king,  on  that  day  gave  audience  in  the  throne-room, 
when,  according  to  custom,  no  one,  however  humble,  was 
refused  permission  to  lay  his  petition  before  his  king. 
At  the  hour  appointed,  Moses  the  mighty  Hebrew,  and 
Aaron  his  brother,  accompanied  by  seven  of  the  chiei 
men  of  their  nation — a  venerable  company  with  their 
flowing  beards  and  snow-white  locks — entered  the  city 
from  Raamses,  and  proceeded  towards  the  palace.  The 
captain  of  the  guard,  seeing  they  were  Hebrews,  looked 
amazed,  and  would  have  stopped  them,  but  the  majesty 
and  authority  with  which  the  two  brothers  moved,  side 
by  side,  awed  him,  and  without  speaking,  he  suffered 
them  to  enter  the  palace,  and  they  passed  on,  looking 
neither  to  the  right  nor  the  left.  Knowing  that  they 
would  appear  at  that  hour,  I  stood  near  and  beheld  them. 


510  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

They  traversed  the  corridor  of  the  vestibule,  and  the 
courtiers  and  lords  and  servitors  gave  way  before  them, 
for  they  were  clad  in  long  robes  like  priests,  and  ap 
peared  to  them  to  be  some  sacred  procession :  but  when 
they  perceived  that  they  were  Hebrews,  they  looked  with 
contempt  on  them,  yet  let  them  pass.  So  these  chosen 
men  advanced,  and  stood  before  the  ivory  throne,  where 
the  king  sat  in  robes  of  cloth  of  purple  and  vestments 
of  gold,  wearing  the  double  crown.  His  high  officers 
stood  about  him,  his  body-guard  were  stationed  on  each 
side  of  the  throne,  while  before  him  kneeled  a  single 
petitioner.  It  was  a  woman,  whose  son  had  accidentally 
wounded  an  ibis  with  an  arrow,  and  was  condemned  to 
die.  She  plead  to  the  king  for  his  life. 

"  Nay,  woman,  he  must  not  live  !"  answered  Pharaoh. 
"  If  he  had  slain  a  slave  or  a  Hebrew,  I  might  grant 
thy  prayer ;  but  to  wound  a  sacred  bird  is  sacrilege. 
Retire !  But  who  come  hither  ?"  he  demanded  of  his 
grand-chainberlain  beside  his  footstool,  as  he  saw  the 
Hebrew  company  advancing.  "  Who  are  these  ?" 

"  They  look  like  Hebrews,  father,"  said  the  son  of 
Thothmeses,  a  young  prince  twenty  years  of  age,  who 
lounged  indolently  against  one  of  the  ivory  figures  that 
adorned  the  throne. 

"  Hebrews  ?"  said  the  king.  "  What  do  they  here  ? 
And  in  robes !  Ah,  Prince  of  Tyre,  welcome !"  he  said, 
turning  to  me,  as,  at  the  moment,  I  appeared  and  made 
my  obeisance  before  him.  "You  honor  us  by  your 
presence  in  our  hall  of  judgment." 

While  he  spoke,  Aaron  and  Moses  had  reached  the 
foot  of  the  throne.  Their  venerable  and  majestic  aspect 
seemed  to  impress  him.  "  Who  are  ye  ?  Are  ye  not 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  511 

Hebrews  ?"  he  demanded,  with  a  face  expressing  mingled 
surprise  and  doubt. 

"  We  are  Hebrews,  O  king,"  answered  Aaron,  with 
respectful  homage.  "  We  are  two  brethren.  My  name 
is  Aaron  the  Levite,  and  this  my  brother  is  Moses  the 
Midianite ;  and  these  others  are  the  elders  of  Israel — 
chiefs  of  the  Hebrew  people."  This  was  spoken  with 
calmness  and  fearlessness. 

"  And  wherefore  are  ye  come  hither  ?"  the  king  cried. 
"  Who  of  my  governors  has  let  you  from  your  work  ? 
Who  is  Israel  ?" 

"  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  the  Governor  of  the  universe," 
answered  Aaron  :  "  i  Israel  is  my  son,  even  my  first-born. 
Let  my  son  go,  that  he  may  serve  me.'  And  if  thou  rev 
fuse  to  let  Israel  go,  O  king,"  continued  Aaron  with  an 
air  of  inspiration,  "  behold  our  God  will  slay  thy  son, 
even  thy  first-born." 

The  king  started,  and  became  pale  with  anger  and 
amazement ;  and  his  son,  Amunophis,  sprang  forward  a 
step,  and  laid  his  hand  upon  the  jewelled  scimitar  he 
wore  at  the  girdle  of  his  vesture,  crying, — 

"  Slay  me !  What  menace  is  this,  graybeard  ?  A 
conspiracy,  my  father !" 

"Who  is  the  Lord,"  demanded  the  king,  "that  I 
should  obey  His  voice,  and  let  Israel  go  ?  I  know  not 
the  Lord,  neither  will  I  let  Israel  go.  What  threats  are 
these  ?  Ho !  captain  of  the  guard,  seize  these  Hebrews, 
and  put  them  in  prison !" 

The  captain  of  the  guard  prepared  to  obey,  but  not  a 
soldier  moved.  The  majesty  of  Moses,  as  he  fixed  his 
eyes  upon  them,  as  it  were,  paralyzed  them.  Then 
Aaron  answered  Pharaoh,  and  said  : 


512  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

"  He  is  the  God  of  the  Hebrews,  O  king;  the  Lord  of 
the  sun,  and  Upholder  of  worlds.  He  hath  met  with  us 
and  commanded  us  to  go  three  days'  journey  out  of 
Egypt  into  the  desert,  and  sacrifice  unto  Him,  as  our 
fathers  aforetime  did :  and  if  we  disobey  His  voice,  He 
will  fall  upon  us,  and  destroy  us  with  pestilence  or  with 
the  sword ;  for  what  other  people  is  there  that  do  not 
their  sacrifices,  save  our  nation  ?  Therefore,  thus  saith 
the  Lord  of  the  Hebrews  to  thee,  O  King  of  Egypt, 
'  Let  my  people  go,  that  they  may  hold  a  holy  feast  to 
me  in  the  wilderness.' ': 

"  By  the  gods  of  Egypt,  ye  Moses  and  Aaron,"  cried 
the  king,  rising  from  his  throne  in  great  wrath,  "  I  defy 
the  God  of  the  Hebrews !  Wherefore  do  ye  hinder  the 
people  from  their  works  ?  Get  you,  and  these  old  men 
with  you,  unto  your  burdens  !  Ye  seek  to  destroy 
Egypt;  for  if  the  Hebrews,  which  are  now  many  in  the 
land,  be  let  three  days  from  their  burdens,  they  will  do 
mischief,  and  make  sedition.  Get  thee  from  my  pres 
ence  !  But  for  thy  gray  head,  O  Aaron,  you  should  be 
put  to  death !  This  is  a  new  thing  in  Egypt.  Let  them 
forth  !"  he  called  to  his  servitors. 

Moses  answered,  speaking  for  the  first  time, — 

"  O  King  Thothmeses,  the  God  of  the  Hebrews,  whose 
servant  I  am,  will  yet  make  thee  know  His  power,  and 
that  there  is  none  else — no  other  God  but  Him !" 

The  king  made  no  reply.  He  sunk  back  upon  his 
throne  overcome  with  surprise ;  and  I  could  perceive  a 
certain  look  of  fear  in  his  eyes.  Prince  Amunophis  fol 
lowed  the  retiring  ambassadors  of  God,  and,  as  they 
reached  the  vestibule,  he  gave  orders  to  the  outer 
guard  to  arrest  the  whole  company.  But  with  a  ges- 


1SKAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  513 

ture  of  his  hand,  Moses  caused  them  to  retire  before  him  ; 
and  the  prince,  returning  with  amazement,  said  to  the 
king: 

"  These  two  men  are  gods,  O  king !  They  carry  the 
aspect  and  majesty  of  demigods,  and  all  men  fear  to  la} 
hands  on  them !" 

"  If  I  hear  more  of  them,"  answered  Pharaoh,  by  this 
time  recovered  from  his  emotion,  "I  will  know  whether 
they  are  gods  or  men !  They  shall  die,  by  the  life  of 
Osiris !  Do  these  Hebrews  want  more  work?" 

The  king  then  commanded  to  come  before  him  his 
chief  officers,  governors,  captains,  and  head  taskmasters, 
and  said  to  them,  "  Ye  shall  no  more  give  the  Hebrew 
people/straw  to  make  brick  as  heretofore.  Let  them  go 
and  gather  straw  for  themselves.  And  the  number  of 
bricks  which  they  have  made  heretofore,  shall  ye  bind 
them  to.  Ye  shall  not  diminish  aught  thereof ;  for  they 
are  idle,  and  cry,  4  Let  us  go  and  sacrifice  to  our  God.' 
Let  there  be  more  work  laid  upon  the  men,  that  they 
may  be  so  employed  as  not  to  have  leisure  to  regard  the 
vain  words  of  this  Moses  and  Aaron  !" 

Thus,  my  dear  father,  the  first  result,  of  the  interposi 
tion  of  Moses  for  his  people,  is  to  increase  their  oppres 
sion  !  Yet  their  God  is  above  all,  and  will  manifest  Hia 
power  for  their  deliverance. 

Your  affectionate  son, 

REMESES  OF  DAMASCUS. 

22* 


514  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 


LETTEK    VIII. 

CITY  OP  ON. 

"M.Y  DEAR  AND  VENERABLE  FATHER  I 

MANY  days  have  passed  since  I  wrote  to  yon. 
You  wili  wish  to  hear  the  ultimate  issue  of  the  com 
mand  of  Pharaoh,  to  increase  the  burdens  of  the 
Hebrews,  and  its  effects  upon  them. 

In  obedience  to  this  command,  the  taskmasters  and 
officers  of  this  unhappy  people  went  out  and  strictly  ful 
filled  it.  The  poor  Hebrew  brickmakers,  in  whose  work 
coarse  straw  of  wheat  cut  fine  is  necessary  to  make  the 
clay  cohere,  as  they  are  only  dried  in  the  sun,  are  now 
distributed  all  over  Egypt  seeking  straw,  which  hitherto 
the  Egyptian  laborers  brought  to  them  in  carts  and 
laden  barges.  Thus  dispersed,  they  gather  stubble,  and 
dry  bulrushes,  and  grass,  and  every  thing  they  can  in 
their  haste  find  on  the  surface  of  the  ground;  for  if 
night  comes  and  their  tale  of  bricks  falls  short,  they  are 
beaten.  As,  therefore,  one  half  of  the  time  of  many  is 
consumed  in  searching  the  highways  and  fields,  instead 
of  being  all  the  time,  as  heretofore,  engaged  only  in 
making  brick,  the  task  put  upon  them  is  an  impossible 
one ;  and  everywhere  the  sound  of  the  rod  and  whip, 
and  the  cry  of  sufferers,  goes  up  from  the  land.  At 


ISRAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  515 

length  the  elders  and  officers  of  the  Hebrews  (for  their 
own  people  are  often  made  their  taskmasters,  who  also 
had  to  account  to  their  Egyptian  captains  for  their  ful 
fillment  of  the  king's  command),  got  courage  from  de 
spair,  and  meeting  the  king  as  he  was  abroad  in  his 
chariot,  cast  themselves  before  him,  crying,  "Wherefore 
hast  thou  dealt  thus  with  us  ?  It  is  not  our  fault  that 
we  cannot  make  up  the  number  of  bricks,  as  heretofore, 
seeing  straw  is  not  given  us ;  and  thy  servants  are 
beaten  ;  but  the  fault  is  in  thine  own  officers." 

Pharaoh  angrily  answered,  "Ye  are  idle!  Ye  are 
idle !  Ye  have  not  enough  to  do,  or  ye  would  not  think 
ye  had  time  to  go  into  the  desert  to  sacrifice  to  your 
God.  Go,  therefore,  and  do  your  tasks,  for  there  shall 
no  straw  be  given  you." 

"And  shall  we  deliver  the  tale  of  bricks?"  they  cried. 

"  To  the  last  one  of  them !"  answered  the  king ;  and 
with  an  impatient  sign  for  them  to  stand  aside  from  liia 
chariot-wheels,  he  dashed  forward  on  his  way,  attended 
by  his  brilliant  retinue.  The  unhappy  men  then  per 
ceived  "  that  they  were  in  evil  case,"  as  one  of  them 
said  to  me  in  relating  this  interview ;  and  meeting  Moses 
and  Aaron  in  the  fields  not  long  afterwards,  one  of  their 
number  said,  indignantly,  and  with  grief — 

"The  Lord  look  upon  you,  Moses  and  Aaron,  and 
judge  you,  because  by  your  interference  with  the  king, 
thou  hast  put  a  sword  into  the  hand  of  Pharaoh  to 
slay  us." 

Moses  looked  sorrowfully  and  troubled,  and  raising 
his  eyes  heavenward  as  he  left  them  without  a  reply, 
for  he  wot  not  how  to  answer,  they  heard  him  cry  unto 
his  God,  and  say — 


516  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

"  Lord,  wherefore  hast  Thou  so  evil  entreated  this  Thy 
people  I  Why  is  it  that  Thou  didst  send  me  ?  For  since 
I  came  to  Pharaoh  to  speak  in  Thy  name,  he  hath  done 
evil  to  this  people ;  neither,  0  Lord  God,  hast  Thou  de 
livered  Thy  people  at  all !" 

Then  came  a  voice  from  heaven,  which  they  heard, 
and  said — 

"  Thou  shalt  see  what  I  will  do  to  Pharaoh ;  for  he 
shall  let  you  go,  and  drive  you  out  of  his  land.  I  am 
the  Lord  who  spake  to  thee  in  Horeb,  out  of  the  burn 
ing  bush ;  and  I  appeared  unto  Abraham,  unto  Isaac, 
and  unto  Jacob,  by  the  name  of  God  Almighty.  But 
by  rny  name  JEHOVAH  was  I  not  known  to  them.  I 
have  heard  the  groaning  of  the  children  of  Israel. 
Wherefore  say  unto  them,  '  I  am  the  Lord,  and  I  will 
bring  you  out  from  under  the  burdens  of  the  Egyptians, 
and  I  will  take  you  to  me  for  a  people,  and  I  will  be  to 
you  a  God ;  and  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord  your 
God,  which  bringeth  you  out  from  under  the  burdens  of 
the  Egyptians.  And  I  will  bring  you  in  unto  the  land 
which  I  did  swear  to  give  to  Abraham,  and  to  Isaac, 
and  to  Jacob,  and  I  will  give  it  to  you  for  an  heritage. 
I  am  the  Lord  !'  " 

With  these  words,  Moses  sought  to  comfort  the  He 
brews,  his  brethren,  going  to  them  and  proclaiming  it 
to  them  in  their  ears ;  but  for  an  anguish  of  spirit,  and 
the  great  pressure  of  their  cruel  bondage  upon  their 
minds,  they  did  not  hearken  unto  him.  Hope  in  their 
bosoms  was  utterly  dead.  Moreover,  many  of  them 
looked  on  him  with  eyes  of  hatred,  as  the  author  of  this 
increase  of  their  wretchedness. 

What  a  situation  was  this  for  the  servant  of  God! 


ISBAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  517 

Confident  of  the  power  aud  truth  of  Jehovah,  he  could 
not  reconcile  therewith  this  increase  of  the  power  of 
Pharaoh.  Perhaps,  at  times,  his  own  faith  was  severely 
tried. 

Since  then,  a  month  has  passed,  during  which  period 
I  saw  Moses  often  in  Goshen,  where  he  passed  his  time 
in  encouraging  those  of  his  brethren  who  would  give 
heed  to  him. 

In  the  mean  while,  Pharaoh,  as  if  in  contempt  or  de 
fiance  of  the  God  of  the  Hebrews,  has  been  engaged 
in  extraordinary  religious  rites  ;  and  every  day  the  streets 
have  resounded  with  the  music  of  instruments  and  cho 
ral  songs  of  processions  to  the  gods.  I  witnessed  all  of 
these  ceremonies,  and  will  describe  some  of  them  that 
are  not  mentioned  by  you  in  your  letters  from  Egypt, 
my  dear  father. 

On  the  seventh  day  after  Moses  and  Aaron  left  him, 
Thothmeses  went  in  state  to  the  black  marble  temple  of 
the  sacred  serpent,  Urseus,  to  offer  sacrifice  and  oblation 
to  its  great  image  of  gold  with  jewelled  eyes  and  hideous 
head.  He  addressed  it  as  the  god  of  wisdom  and  sa 
gacity,  and  presented  offerings  of  flowers,  and  a  neck 
lace  of  emeralds;  while,  for  the  living  serpents,  held 
sacred  by  the  Egyptians,  he  left  gifts  of  money  to  pur 
chase  food  for  their  repletion. 

The  next  day  he  proceeded,  at  the  head  of  the  priests 
and  the  most  magnificent  religious  procession  I  have 
seen  in  Egypt,  from  his  palace  along  the  sphinx-lined 
avenue  to  the  terrace  of  the  Nile,  opposite  the  Island  of 
Rhoda,  where  stands  a  brazen  statue  of  the  god  JS~ilus, 
with  those  of  Osiris  and  Thoth  on  either  side  of  its  ped 
estal. 


518  THE   PILLAR  OF   FIRE,   OR 

Descending  from  his  chariot,  he  advanced  to  the 
river,  and  poured  from  a  goblet,  set  with  diamonds,  a  liba 
tion  of  wine  into  its  waves,  and  invoked  the  river  itself 
as  a  deity,  concluding  his  prayer  with  a  curse  upon  the 
God  of  the  Hebrews.  Then,  at  his  command,  the  chief 
sacrificer  advanced,  leading  a  Hebrew  boy  four  years 
old,  whom  he  laid  upon  the  altar  before  the  statue  of  the 
god,  and,  at  a  stroke  of  his  sacrificial  knife,  sacrificed 
there.  I  could  scarcely  refrain  from  a  cry  of  horror.  I 
knew  that  the  Egyptians,  on  certain  occasions,  sacrificed 
human  beings  to  the  gods ;  but  I  never  expected  to  be 
hold  an  immolation  like  this.  The  palpitating  form  of 
the  child  was  then  taken  up  by  two  assistants,  and  the 
blood  of  its  heart  was  poured  forth  into  the  Nile,  as  a 
libation  to  the  god.  The  empurpled  wave  then  received 
the  inanimate  form,  amid  a  crash  of  instrumental  music. 
This  unusual  libation  of  blood  to  the  Nile  was  intended 
as  an  act  of  defiance  to  the  Hebrew  JEHOVAH. 

The  following  day,  Pharaoh  made  a  procession  to  the 
temple  of  sacred  frogs,  on  the  borders  of  the  canal  of 
Amun.  Here  libations  were  poured  out  before  a  colos 
sal  sphinx  having  a  frog's  head,  and  offerings  made.  The 
frog  is  held  sacred  by  the  Egyptians,  because  it  is  sup 
posed  to  purify  the  waters  by  feeding  on  poisons  in  the 
marshes  and  river. 

The  succeeding  day  Pharaoh,  as  if  possessed  with  a 
religious  infatuation,  that  now  led  him  to  seek  the  favor 
of  gods  hitherto  neglected  by  him,  in  his  dread  of  the 
God  of  the  Hebrews,  paid  a  visit,  with  all  his  court,  to 
the  temple  of  the  scarabseus,  or  sacred  beetle  of  Egypt. 
This  is  a  marble  edifice,  adorned  with  a  frieze  of  scara- 
bsei,  having  heads  of  every  variety  of  animal.  The  god 


ISRAEL    IN   BONDAGE.  519 

himself  is  a  gigantic  beetle  of  black  marble,  with  a  hu 
man  head.  He  is  supposed  to  protect  the  temples  from 
vermin,  such  as  lice  and  fleas  ;  for  one  of  these  seen  in 
a  temple,  or  upon  the  garments  of  a  priest,  causes  cere 
monial  defilement,  and  neither  priest  nor  temple  may 
be  made  holy  again  but  by  purification. 

The  next  day  a  procession  was  made  by  Pharaoh  and 
his  people  to  the  little  temple  of  Baal-Zebel,  a  deity  that 
is  reverenced  as  their  protector  from  flies,  which  some 
times  infest  the  land  in  ravenous  swarms,  and  which,  it 
is  believed,  this  idol-  only  can  remove.  Can  Thothmeses 
be  so  superstitious  ?  Or  does  he  make  all  this  show  of 
piety  merely  to  humor  the  superstitions  of  his  people, 
and.  sustain  the  priests  of  these  shrines  ?  Does  he  fear 
Moses  and  his  power,  so  as  to  desire  to  strengthen  him 
self  in  the  affections  of  the  priesthood  and  people  ? 

The  day  after  the  visit  to  the  temple  of  the  fly-god, 
he  went  in  great  state  to  the  temple  of  the  sacred  ox  of 
On,  Mnevis.  Here  he  sacrificed,  prayed,  poured  liba 
tions,  and  offered  oblations.  It  was  an  imposing  scene, 
as  he  was  attended  by  one  thousand  priests  clad  in  rich 
vestments,  and  wearing  shining  crowns,  the  whole  wav 
ing  censers  of  gold.  Of  the  god  he  asked  protection  to 
all  the  cattle  of  Egypt,  and  prosperity  to  the  harvests ; 
and  then  solemnly  denounced  the  God  of  the  Hebrews, 
as  a  God  not  known  or  honored  in  Egypt,  and  who,  if 
He  existed,  was  but  a  God  of  slaves. 

The  next  day  of  this  ten  days'  ovation,  Pharaoh  pro 
ceeded  to  the  gloomy  temple  of  Typhon,  on  the  edge  of 
the  desert.  Here  a  Nubian  slave  was  sacrificed  to  the 
Evil  Principle,  by  being  bound  to  the  altar  and  burned 
alive.  The  officiating  priests  then  gathered  the  ashes 


520  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

and  cast  them  high  into  the  air,  calling  on  their  god 
and  praying  him,  that  wheresoever  an  atoin  of  the 
ashes  was  borne  on  the  wind,  evil  might  not  visit  the 
place. 

Thothmeses  has  diligently  revived  the  human  sacrifices 
which  Queen  Amense  forbade,  and  the  act  sufficiently 
illustrates  the  native  cruelty  and  superstition  of  the 
man. 

.  Two  days  afterwards,  having  crossed  the  !N"ile  in  great 
pomp,  he  proceeded,  in  grand  procession,  to  the  temple 
of  Serapis.  The  god  Apis,  you  are  aware,  my  dear 
father,  has  the  peculiar  office,  besides  many  others,  of 
protecting  the  country  from  locusts ;  and  at  the  seasons 
when  these  destructive  insects  visit  Egypt,  Apis  is  in 
voked  to  command  them  to  retire  from  the  land. 

The  rites  performed  by  the  king  before  the  god  were 
imposing  and  gorgeous.  He  invoked  him,  not  against 
locusts,  but  against  the  God  of  Moses  ! 

Does  not  all  this  show  a  secret  dread  of  the  God  he 
defies  ?  Yet  he  knows  nothing  of  His  power,  and  has 
witnessed  no  act  of  wonder  performed  by  Him.  Doubt 
less  he  felt,  that  a  servant  wTho  dared  to  be  so  bold  and 
confident,  must  have  a  divine  Master,  who  is  great  and 
powerful.  Perhaps  he  had  heard  of  the  God  of  the 
Hebrews  in  times  past ; — of  the  dream  of  Prince  Joseph 
and  the  seven  years'  famine ; — of  the  destruction  of  the 
vale  of  Sodom,  with  its  cities,  by  fire  from  heaven  at 
God's  command ; — of  the  dispersion  of  the  nations  at  the 
pyramid  of  Babylon  ; — of  the  mighty  deluge  which  He 
caused  to  overflow  the  mountains  and  drown  the  world ! 
Perhaps,  for  he  is  learned  and  intelligent  enough,  when 
Aaron  spoke  to  him  of  the  God  of  the  Hebrews,  he  re- 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  521 

membered  wlio  He  was  in  times  of  old,  and  trembled  to 
hear  His  "name  again. 

Three  days  afterwards  the  king  visited  the  shrine  of 
Isis,  and  poured  libations,  and  made  thanksgivings ;  and 
invoked  her,  as  the  moon,  and  controller  of  the  seasons 
and  weather,  to  send  abundant  rains  upon  the  mountains 
of  Ethiopia,  and  the  sources  of  the  Nile,  so  that  the 
annual  overflow,  now  near  at  hand,  may  not  fail,  nor 
the  land  be  deprived  of  its  fertility. 

Two  days  later,  with  a  procession  of  all  the  priests  of 
all  the  temples,  and  with  chariots,  and  horsemen,  and 
footmen, — a  vast  array, — he  visited  the  great  temple  of 
Osiris,  or  the  sun ;  and,  after  august  ceremonies,  him 
self  acting  as  high-priest,  with  the  high-priest  of  On  for 
his  assistant,  he  presented  the  statue  of  the  god  with  a 
new  crown  of  gold,  and  a  crook  and  flail  of  ivory  inlaid 
with  jewels.  He  invoked  him,  by  the  appellation  of 
the  god  of  light,  the  dispeller  of  darkness,  the  terror  of 
clouds,  and  the  foe  of  lightnings  and  storms.  And  he 
implored  clear  skies,  and  serene  weather  for  the  harvests, 
as  heretofore. 

Thus  the  piety  of  Thothmeses  has  been  quickened  into 
unwonted  activity  by  the  dread  of  the  God  of  Israel,  as, 
if  he  would  secure  his  gods'  faithfulness  should  the  God 
of  Moses  be  too  strong  for  him.  In  the  mean  while  the 
children  of  Israel  are  groaning  under  the  weight  of  their 
increased  oppression.  I  have  seen  Aaron  to-day.  He 
informed  me,  with  looks  of  holy  faith  in  his  God,  that 
Moses  and  he  were,  to-morrow,  by  God's  command,  to 
appear  again  before  Pharaoh,  and  demand  the  release 
of  the  Hebrews. 

What  a  scene  will  be   enacted!      Will   these  two 


522  THE  PILLAR  OF  FIRE,    OR 

courageous  men  brave  his  anger,  and  escape?  I  tremble 
for  the  result.  They  are  firm  and  resolved,  being  strong 
in  the  strength  of  their  God.  I  shall  be  sure  to  be  at 
tne  palace  to-morrow,  that  I  may  behold  these  servants 
of  Jehovah  meet,  once  more,  face  to  face,  this  cruel 
Pharaoh  and  his  gods. 

Your  affectionate  son, 

REMESES  OF  DAMASCUS. 


ISRAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  523 


LETTEE   IX. 

REMESES   OF  DAMASCUS  TO   SESOSTRIS. 

CITY  OF  ON. 

MY   VERY   DEAR   FATHER  : 

You  will  read  what  I  am  about  to  write,  with  the 
profoundest  interest.  The  two  mighty  Hebrews  again 
sought  an  audience  of  the  king,  and  boldly  demanded 
the  freedom  of  Israel. 

This  meeting  did  not  take  place  in  the  palace  of  On, 
but  in  that  at  Memphis,  on  the  avenue  of  the  pyramids. 
Pharaoh  was  seated  in  the  court  of  the  palace,  giving 
audience  to  the  governors  of  the  thirty-nine  nornes, 
which  now  constitute  the  number  of  his  provinces. 
When  he  had  ended  his  instructions  to  them,  Moses  and 
Aaron  were  announced.  I  stood  near  him  conversing 
with  the  prince ;  for  I  knew  that  the  two  men  of  God 
purposed  to  seek  the  king's  presence. 

"  How  darest  thou  announce  these  Hebrews  ?"  cried 
the  king,  sharply,  to  his  trembling  grand-chamberlain. 

"  I  could  not  forbid  them,  O  king !  1  fled  instinct 
ively  and  without  power  of  resistance  before  the  majesty 
of  their  presence.  Behold  them  advancing !" 

Pharaoh  turned  pale.  He  essayed  to  give  some  fierce 
order  to  those  about  him,  but  his  tongue  failed  him. 


524:  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,   OR 

"Who  will  slay  me  these  men?"  cried  the  Prince 
Amunophis,  seeing  the  king's  troubled  looks. 

Not  a  man  moved.  Awe  and  curiosity  took  the  place 
of  all  other  feelings.  Side  by  side  the  two  brothers 
came  unfalteringly  forward  till  they  stood  before  the 
monarch, — fixing  their  regards  only  upon  him. 

"What  are  ye  come  for,  Moses  and  Aaron?"  at 
length  he  uttered,  in  a  thick  voice.  "  Have  I  spared 
your  lives,  that  you  might  come  again  to  mock  me  in 
my  palace  ?" 

"  We  are  come,  O  king,"  answered  Moses  with  dig 
nity,  and  looking  far  more  kingly  than  he  whom  he 
addressed — "  we  are  come  in  the  name  of  the  God  of 
the  Hebrews.  He  hath  heard  their  cry  from  all  the 
land  of  Egypt,  by  reason  of  their  taskmasters,  and  1  am 
sent  to  command  thee,  in  His  name,  to  send  the  children 
of  Israel  out  of  thy  land  !" 

"  Have  I  knowledge  of  your  God  ?  What  is  His 
power?  Let  Him  make  Himself  known!  Or,  if  He 
hath  sent  thee  to  me,  where  are  thy  credentials  from  His 
hand?  I  listen  to  no  ambassadors  from  God  or  man, 
unless  they  show  me  that  they  are  sent.  By  what  sign 
wilt  thou  declare  thy  mission?  If  a  king  sent  thee, 
show  me  his  handwriting ;  if  a  god,  show  me  a  miracle !" 
(Aaron  held  the  rod  of  Moses  in  his  hand,  and  casting 
it  upon  the  marble  pavement  of  the  court,  it  became  a 
serpent,  slowly  gliding  along  the  floor  and  flashing  fire 
from  its  eyes.  The  servants  of  Pharaoh  fled  before  it. 
The  king  upon  his  throne,  at  first,  became  alarmed,  but 
seeing  the  monster  inflate  its  throat  and  stretch  lazily 
and  innocuously  along  the  lion-skin  before  his  footstool, 
he  smiled  contemptuously  and  said — 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  525 

{'  Thy  Aral  iah  life  has  given  thee  great  skill,  O 
Mdses.  Ho !  call  my  magicians !  I  have  magi  that 
can  equal  thy  art !" 

All  was  expectation,  until  at  length  two  stately  person 
ages  solemnly  entered,  each  with  his  acacia  rod.  They 
were  Jambres  and  Jannes,  the  royal  and  chief  magicians 
of  Egypt,  of  whose  fame  other  lands  have  heard.  They 
were  dark-featured,  Arabic-looking  men,  and  dressed 
with  great  magnificence,  wearing  robes  blazing  with  gold 
and  jewels.  Their  bearing  was  haughty  and  imperi 
ous,  and  they  looked  about  them  with  disdain,  as  if 
they  were  beings  of  a  better  order  than  the  Egyptians, 
who  stood  awed,  or  prostrated  themselves  in  their 
oresence. 

"  Seest  thou  this  serpent  ?"  demanded  Pharaoh,  di 
recting  the  attention  of  Jambres  to  the  monster,  which 
lay  coiled  upon  the  lion-skin  before  the  steps  of  the 
throne;  while  several  of  the  guard  with  spears  stood 
near,  to  thrust  it  through,  should  it  approach  the  king. 
The  magicians  regarded  it  with  surprise,  and  then  looked 
fixedly  at  Moses  and  Aaron.  They  had  evidently  heard 
by  the  messengers,  what  had  passed.  "  Half  an  hour 
since,  he  was  a  rod  in  the  hand  of  that  Hebrew 
magician !"  said  the  king.  "  Show  him  thy  art,  and 
that  we  have  gods  whose  servants  can  do  as  great  mira 
cles  as  this !" 

The  magicians  advanced  and  said — 

"  O  king,  beloved  of  the  sun,  live  forever !  Behold 
the  power  of  thy  own  magicians !"  Thus  speaking,  they 
cast  their  rods  upon  the  ground,  when  they  became  ser 
pents  also,  after  a  few  moments  had  transpired.  Pha 
raoh  then  said,  addressing  the  Hebrew  brothers — • 


526  THE  PILLAR  OF  FIRE,   OR 

"  Ye  are  but  impostors,  and  have  done  your  miracle 
by  the  gods  of  Egypt,  as  my  magicians  do." 

"If  the  god  of  Egypt  be  strongest,  let  his  serpents 
destroy  my  serpent :  but  if  the  God  of  the  Hebrews  be 
the  greatest  and  the  only  God,  let  my  serpent  devour 
his  I"  Thus  quietly  spake  Aaron. 

"  So  be  it,"  answered  Pharaoh. 

In  a  moment,  the  serpent  of  Moses  uncoiled  himself, 
and  fiercely  seizing,  one  after  another,  the  two  serpents 
of  the  magicians,  swallowed  them.  At  this  there  was 
an  outcry  among  the  people ;  and,  greatly  terrified, 
Pharaoh  half-rose  from  his  throne  ;  but  Aaron  catching 
up  the  serpent,  it  became  a  rod  as  before.  Instead  of 
acknowledging  the  God  of  Moses,  the  king  became  ex 
ceedingly  enraged  against  his  own  magicians,  and  drove 
them  from  him,  and  ordered  Moses  and  Aaron  to  depart, 
saying  that  they  were  only  more  skilful  sorcerers  than 
the  others,  and  must  show  him  greater  signs  than  these 
ere  he  would  let  Israel  go.  I  have  since  learned,  that 
these  magicians  brought  with  them  real  serpents,  which 
they  have  the  power  of  stiffening,  and  holding  at  arm's 
length  by  pressing  upon  their  throats :  that  they  came 
with  these,  which  could  not  be  detected  in  the  obscurity 
of  the  shadows  where  they  stood,  and  casting  them 
down  they  resumed  their  natural  motions.  That  the 
rod  of  Moses  should  devour  them,  and  return  to  a  rod 
again,  ought  to  have  shown  Pharaoh  that  it  was  a 
miracle,  and  not  sorcery.  But  his  heart  seems  to  be 
hardened  against  all  impressions  of  this  nature. 

The  following  morning,  the  governor  of  the  nilom- 
eter  having  reported  to  the  king  that  the  Nile  had 
commenced  to  rise,  Pharaoh,  according  to  custom,  pro- 


ISKAEL  IN  BONDAGE.  527 

ceeded  to  the  river,  where  the  statue  of  Nilus  stands, 
and  where  he  had  caused  the  Hebrew  boy  to  be  sacri 
ficed  and  his  blood  poured  as  a  libation  into  the  stream. 
Here,  with  great  pomp,  he  was  about  to  celebrate  the 
festivities  of  the  happy  event,  when,  lo !  Moses  and 
Aaron  stood  before  him  by  the  river's  brink, — the  latter 
with  the  rod,  which  had  been  turned  into  a  serpent,  in 
his  hand. 

"  The  Lord  God  of  the  Hebrews,"  cried  Moses  in  a 
loud  voice,  "  hath  sent  me  unto  thee,  saying,  '  Let  My 
people  go.'  Lo !  hitherto  thou  wouldst  not  hear.  Now 
thus  saith  the  Lord — i  In  this  thou  shalt  know  that  I  am 
the  Lord!'  Behold,  O  king,  at  His  command,  I  will 
smite  with  the  rod  that  is  in  mine  hand  upon  the  waters 
which  are  in  the  river,  and  they  shall  be  turned  into 
blood!" 

"  I  defy  you  and  your  God,  and  both  of  ye  shall  die  !' 
answered  Pharaoh,  pale  with  anger. 

Then  Moses,  turning  calmly  to  Aaron,  his  brothei. 
said,  in  my  hearing,  and  in  that  of  the  king  and  all  hip 
people,  "  Take  this  rod  of  God,  and  stretch  out  thine 
hand  upon  the  waters  of  Egypt,  that  there  may  be  blood 
throughout  all  the  land  of  Egypt,  both  in  vessels  ot 
wood  and  vessels  of  stone." 

Aaron,  obeying,  stretched  forth  his  hand  with  the  rod 
and  smote  the  water  at  his  feet,  in  the  sight  of  Pharaoh, 
and  in  the  sight  of  the  thousands  of  Egyptians  present, 
and  in  a  moment  the  Nile  ran  blood  instead  of  water ; 
the  fish  in  hundreds  rose  to  the  surface  and  died,  and 
the  smell  of  blood  filled  all  the  atmosphere.  The  people 
uttereA  a  great  cry,  and  Pharaoh  looked  petrified  with 
horror.  From  the  galleys  on  the  river,  from  the  women 


528  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

on  the  opposite  shore,  from  avenues,  terraces,  and  plains, 
from  every  side,  rose  a  loud  and  terrible  wail,  such  as 
was  never  before  heard.  The  king  sought  his  chariot, 
and  fled  from  the  face  of  Moses  and  Aaron,  and  all  was 
wild  dismay.  These  two  servants  of  the  God,  whose 
words  had  wrought  this  great  wonder,  then  walked 
calmly  away.  I  felt  too  much  awed  to  come  near  them, 
and  in  my  chariot  sought  my  own  palace.  On  the  way, 
I  saw  that  the  canals  were  red  with  blood,  also  the  stand 
ing  pools,  the  lakes,  and  every  body  of  water.  Men 
were  running  in  every  direction  seeking  for  water ;  wo- 
nen  wrung  their  hands,  and  despair  and  fear  were  im 
pressed  upon  every  countenance.  As  I  passed  the  foun 
tains  in  the  court  of  Pharaoh's  palace,  I  saw  that  they 
also  spouted  forth  blood  ;  and  in  the  corridor  and  porti 
cos,  the  water  in  the  vases  for  guests,  in  the  earthen 
jars  for  filtering,  and  in  those  which  stood  in  the  cis 
terns,  was  of  the  same  crimson  hue.  When  I  reached 
my  own  apartments,  lo!  there  also  the  water  in  the 
vases  and  ewers  was  of  the  color  of  blood.  The  voice 
of  Moses,  empowered  by  his  God,  had  indeed  turned 
all  the  waters  of  Egypt  into  blood.  Surely,  I  said,  now 
will  the  king  let  Israel  go.  In  the  afternoon  I  went 
forth,  and  saw  the  Egyptians  digging  everywhere  for 
fresh  water,  along  the  canals  and  river.  I  drove  out  of 
the  city  towards  Goshen,  and  saw  all  the  people  in  mo 
tion  and  terror,  for  but  few  knew  the  cause  of  the  awful 
visitation.  After  an  hour  I  reached  Goshen,  the  fail- 
plain  where  Prince  Jacob  once  dwelt,  and  where  now 
the  children  of  Israel  dwell  by  hundreds  of  thousands. 
With  joyful  surprise  I  beheld,  as  I  entered  the  province, 
that  the  canal  was  free  from  blood,  the  pools  sparkling 


ISRAEL    IN   BONDAGE.  529 

with  clear  water,  and  the  fountains  bright  as  crystal.  As 
I  rode  on  in  the  direction  of  the  dwelling  of  Moses,  I 
perceived  that  the  plague  of  blood  had  not  fallen  upon 
the  land  where  the  Hebrews  dwelt — only  upon  the  Egyp 
tians,-  -This  was  a  twofold  miracle. 

When  Pharaoh  found  that  water  could  be  obtained 
by  digging  shallow  wells,  and  also  that  Goshen  was  free 
from  the  plague,  he  sent  for  Jambres  and  Jannes,  and 
offered  to  pardon  them  if  they  could  turn  water  into 
blood.  They  commenced  their  incantations  upon  water 
dug  up  from  his  gardens — for  the  miracle  of  the  rod 
covered  only  the  waters  at  the  time  on  the  surface, 
whether  in  the  river  or  in  houses.  After  art  had  for 
some  time  been  practised  upon  the  water,  to  my  surprise 
it  was  turned  to  the  semblance  of  blood. 

"  See,"  cried  Pharaoh  with  great  joy,  "  the  servants  of 
Pharaoh  are  equal  to  the  servants  of  the  Hebrew  God  !" 

"And  O  king,"  said  Jambres  vainly,  "  had  the  He 
brew  juggler  left  us  the  Nile,  we  could  have  turned 
that  also  by  our  enchantments." 

Then  Pharaoh  rewarded  him  with  a  chain  of  gold, 
iind  hardened  his  heart,  and  defied  Moses  and  his  God. 
But  in  three  days  afterwards  all  the  fish  died  in  the 
lakes,  and  river  of  Lower  Egypt,  and  a  stench  of  their 
fiesh  and  of  crocodiles  and  reptiles  that  perished  by  the 
blood  in  the  river,  and  the  difficulty  of  getting  water, 
rendered  Egypt  almost  uninhabitable.  Thousands  fled 
to  the  pure  air  and  water  of  Goshen,  where  also  I  re 
mained.  Every  hour  I  expected  to  behold  a  royal  cou 
rier  coming  for  Moses  and  Aaron,  ordering  them  to 
appear  before  the  king,  to  receive  permission  to  lead  the 
Hebrews  out  of  Egypt.  At  the  end  of  seven  days  the 


530  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

river  and  waters  of  Egypt  resumed  their  natural  ccxbr 
and  purity,  by  God's  permission,  lest  all  the  people  of 
Egypt  should  die  for  Pharaoh's  hardness  of  heart. 

Then  God  appeared  again  unto  Moses,  and  commanded 
him  to  go  before  Pharaoh  with  the  same  message  as  be 
fore.  But  the  king,  in  great  fury,  ordered  them  from 
his  presence,  when  Aaron  stretched  forth  his  hand  over 
the  streams,  the  river,  the  canals,  lakes,  and  fountains, 
and  in  a  moment  myriads  of  frogs  appeared  on  the 
shores,  in  the  fields,  in  the  streets,  squares,  corridors, 
terraces,  gardens,  groves,  and  porticos  of  the  temples. 
They  leaped  upon  every  place,  upon  the  people,  upon 
the  stairways.  They  found  their  way  by  hundreds  into 
the  houses  and  bedchambers,  and  upon  the  beds,  tables, 
chairs  of  palaces  and  huts  ;  leaped  into  *the  ovens  and 
kneading-troughs,  and  occupied  every  place.  In  horror 
the  priests  closed  all  the  temples,  lest  they  should  enter, 
and  dying  there,  defile  them.  Even  Pharaoh  was  obliged 
to  shut  himself  up  in  the  recesses  of  his  palace  to  escape 
their  loathsome  presence. 

In  great  alarm,  he  was  about  to  send  for  Moses,  when 
Jambres,  his  chief  sorcerer,  stood  before  him,  and  said : 

"  O  king,  believe  not  that  the  God  of  this  Hebrew  is 
greater  than  the  gods  of  Egypt.  Thy  servants  also  can 
do  this  enchantment." 

"  Do  so,  and  thou  shalt  have  a  rod  of  gold,"  answered 
the  king. 

Then  descending  into  a  fountain,  inclosed  by  a  high 
wall  of  the  palace,  where  the  frogs  had  not  yet  appeared, 
the  magician  caused  frogs  also  to  appear.  "  At  first," 
said  the  chief  butler,  who  spoke  to  me  of  this  deed,  "  the 
king  was  greatly  pleased,  but  suddenly  said : 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  531 

"  '  "What  thou  hast  produced  by  thy  enchantments,  re 
move  by  thy  enchantments.  Command  them  to  disap 
pear  from  the  fountain.' 

"  This  the  two  magicians  not  being  able  to  do,  the 
next  day,  the  frogs  rendering  every  habitation  uninhab 
itable,  and  the  lords  of  Egypt  appealing  to  Pharaoh,  he 
sent  for  Moses  and  Aaron.  It  had  become  time  to  do 
so.  Every  part  of  my  rooms  was  filled  with  these  ani 
mals  ;  they  got  into  the  plates  and  cups,  and  defiled 
every  place — while  by  night  their  combined  roar  filled 
all  Egypt  with  a  deafening  and  terrible  noise,  so  that  if 
a  bed  could  be  found  to  sleep  in,  sleep  was  nowhere 
possible ;  and  by  day  we  could  tread  nowhere  but  upon 
frogs." 

When  the  two  Hebrew  brothers  again  stood  in  the 
presence  of  Pharaoh,  he  said,  with  mingled  shame  and 
displeasure — 

"  Entreat  your  God  to  take  away  this  plague  of  frogs 
from  me,  my  people,  and  the  land  of  Egypt;  and  if 
thou  canst  free  the  land  from  them,  I  will  acknowledge 
that  it  is  the  power  of  the  God  of  the  Hebrews,  and  will 
let  the  people  go  to  do  sacrifice  unto  the  Lord,  who 
hath  commanded  and  sent  for  them." 

Then  Moses  answered  the  king — 

"  The  Lord  shall  be  entreated  as  thou  desirest ;  and 
thou,  O  king,  shalt  set  the  time,  lest  thou  shouldst  say  I 
consulted  a  favorable  aspect  of  the  stars.  Choose  when 
I  shall  entreat  for  thee  to  remove  this  plague  from  the 
land,  the  people,  and  their  houses." 

"  To-morrow,"  answered  Thothmeses. 

"  Be  it  according  to  thy  word,"  answered  Moses ; 
"  and  when  thou  seest  the  plague  removed  at  the  tiina 


532  THE   PILLAR   OF    FIRE,  OR 

appointed  by  thee,  know  it  is  God's  gracious  act,  and 
not  our  sorcery.  To-morrow  the  frogs  in  all  the  land  of 
Egypt  shall  be  found  in  the  river  only." 

What  a  scene  did  Egypt  present  the  next  morning ! 
The  land  was  covered  with  dead  frogs ;  and  it  took  all 
the  people  of  Egypt  that  day  and  night  to  gather  them 
into  heaps  and  cast  them  into  the  river :  for  they  threat 
ened  a  pestilence. 

"When  Pharaoh  saw  that  his  wish  was  granted  at  the 
time  he  named,  and  that  there  was  a  respite,  he  said — 
"  This  was  by  my  voice  and  my  power,  and  not  by  their 
God,  that  the  frogs  died  on  the  morrow  I  named !  The 
glory  over  Moses  shall  indeed  be  mine,  as  he  hath 
said !"  Ceasing  to  speak,  he  sent  orders  to  the  taskmas 
ters  to  increase  the  burdens  of  the  Hebrews,  refusing  to 
keep  his  promise  to  Moses  and  Aaron. 

Then  the  Lord  again  sent  them  before  Pharaoh,  and 
in  his  presence  Aaron  stretched  forth  his  rod,  and  smote 
the  dust  of  the  earth,  when  all  the  dust  of  the  earth  be 
came  alive,  and  rested  upon  man  and  beast  in  the  form 
of  lice ! 

Then,  in  a  rage,  Pharaoh  called  his  enchanters,  but 
they  could  not  perform  this  miracle,  and  said  plainly  to 
the  king — 

"  This  is  beyond  our  power.  This  is  the  finger  of 
their  God." 

Upon  hearing  this,  Pharaoh  drove  both  his  magicians, 
and  Moses  and  Aaron  forth  from  his  palace.  The  next 
day  no  sacrifice  was  offered,  no  temple  open  in  all 
Egypt ;  for  on  the  priests  were  lice,  and  no  one  could 
perform  an  official  act  with  any  insect  upon  his  person, 
being  thereby  made  unclean.  The  Egyptians  were 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  533 

enraged,  both  with  the  Hebrews  and  with  their  king — 
but,  shut  up  iu.  his  palace,  he  refused  to  consent  to  the 
demands  of  Moses. 

Three  days  afterwards,  by  the  command  of  God, 
given  at  the  well  of  Jacob, — where,  in  a  bright  cloud 
like  a  pillar  of  fire,  He  descended  to  speak  with  Moses, 
and  seemed  to  be  now  every  day  present  in  Egypt,  in 
communion  with  his  holy  servant, — the  two  brothers 
again  sought  the  presence  of  the  king,  as  he  was  enter 
ing  his  galley.  Reiterating  their  usual  demand,  Moses 
continued — • 

"  The  Lord  hath  said  unto  me, i  Stand  before  Pharaoh 
when  he  comes  forth  to  the  water,  and  say  unto  him, 
thus  saith  the  Lord,  i  Let  my  people  go ;  else,  if  thou 
wil-t  not  let  my  people  go,  I  will  send  swarms  of  flies 
upon  thee  and  thy  servants,  and  upon  thy  people,  and 
the  houses  of  the  Egyptians  shall  be  filled  with  them, 
and  also  the  ground ;  and  I  will  sever  in  that  day  the 
land  of  Goshen,  in  which  my  people  dwell,  that  no 
swarms  of  flies  shall  be  there ;  to  the  end  that  thou 
mayest  know  that  I  am  the  Lord  in  the  midst  of  the 
earth.  And  I  will  put  a  division  between  my  people 
and  thy  people  ;  and  to-morrow  shall  this  sign  be  !' ': 

Pharaoh,  in  fear  and  anger,  commanded  his  galley  to 
leave  the  shore,  heeding  none  of  the  words  spoken  by 
Moses.  The  next  day  when  I  awoke,  lo !  the  air  was 
darkened  with  flies.  They  covered  the  city  like  a 
cloud,  and  their  noise  was  like  the  roar  of  the  sea  after 
a  storm.  When  the  sun  was  well  risen,  they  descended 
and  alighted  upon  the  dwellings,  and  soon  filled  the 
houses,  and  rooms,  and  every  place  they  could  pene 
trate.  It  was  impossible  to  hear  for  their  hum,  or  to 


534.  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

see  for  their  number,  as  they  would  alight  upon  the  face, 
seek  the  corners  of  the  eyes  and  the  edges  of  the  eye 
lids,  and  inflict  their  bite.  In  a  few  hours  the  Egyptians 
became  frantic  under  the  plague,  as  it  was  impossible 
to  keep  them  off ;  and  if  driven  away,  they  would  per 
tinaciously  return  to  the  attack.  All  employment  in 
Egypt  ceased.  Eating  and  sleeping  were  impracticable. 
I  fled  in  my  chariot  towards  Goshen  !  My  horses,  stung 
to  madness,  flew  like  the  wind.  Hundreds  of  women, 
and  children,  and  men  were  pressing  in  the  same  direc 
tion,  for  safety  and  relief.  I  crossed  the  great  canal 
which  divides  the  province,  and  not  a  fly  followed  me 
nor  my  horses  across  the  aerial  and  invisible  barrier  God 
had  set  as  their  bounds.  All  Goshen  was  free  from  the 
plague,  and  the  Hebrews  were  extending  favors  to  the 
Egyptians  who  sought  shelter  among  them. 

The  next  day,  Pharaoh,  unable  to  endure  the  plague, 
and  finding  his  magicians  could  neither  remove  nor 
cause  it,  sent  for  Moses  and  Aaron,  who  immediately 
answered  his  summons. 

u  Go,"  he  cried,  when  he  beheld  them, — "  go,  sacrifice 
to  thy  God  in  this  land ;  for  He  is  a  mighty  God,  and 
may  not  be  mocked !" 

"  It  is  not  meet,  O  king,"  answered  Moses,  "  that  we 
should  sacrifice  to  our  God  in  the  land  of  Egypt.  "We 
Hebrews  sacrifice  bulls  and  rams,  sacrifices  abominable 
to  the  Egyptians,  who  call  them  their  gods  !  Lo  !  shall 
we  sacrifice  the  gods  of  the  Egyptians  to  our  God, 
before  their  eyes,  and  will  they  not  stone  us  ?  If  we 
sacrifice,  we  will  go  three  days'  journey  into  the  wilder 
ness,  and  sacrifice  to  the  Lord  our  God  as  He  shall  com 
mand  us." 


IN   BONDAGE.  535 

Seeing  the  resolute  purpose  of  the  terrible  Hebrew, 
Pharaoh  consented  to  his  demand,  only  adding,  "Ye 
shall  not  go  very  far  away  !  Now  go  and  entreat  your 
God  for  me,  for  the  removal  of  these  flies  !" 

While  this  discourse  was  passing  between  them,  the 
fan-bearers  of  the  king,  with  all  their  diligence,  could 
not  protect  his  face  from  the  stings  of  the  flies,  which 
plagued  him  sorely ;  while  upon  Aaron  and  Moses  not 
one  alighted. 

"  To-morrow,"  answered  Moses,  as  he  went  out,  "  the 
Lord,  whom  I  will  entreat  for  thee,  shall  remove  this 
plague  also.  But  deal  not  deceitfully,  O  king,  any 
more,  in  not  letting  the  people  go." 

"When,  the  next  day,  Pharaoh  saw  that  the  flies  were 
removed,  so  that  not  one  remained,  he  repented  that  he 
had  given  his  promise,  and  resolved  not  to  keep  it  with 
Moses. 

Once  more  God  sent  his  servants,  the  two  Hebrews, 
to  the  king,  demanding  the  release  of  the  children 
of  Jacob  from  their  yoke  of  bondage,  menacing  him 
with  a  murrain  upon  all  the  cattle,  horses,  camels,  and 
beasts  of  Egypt,  if  he  resolved  to  hold  them  still  in  the 
land.  The  king,  however,  who  seemed  after  every  de 
mand  to  grow  more  obstinate  when  the  evil  had  passed, 
refused,  and  sent  them  away  with  threats  of  vengeance. 
Indeed,  it  is  surprising,  my  dear  father,  that  he  hath  not 
glain  them  before  this  ;  and  I  have  no  doubt  he  is  mi 
raculously  restrained  from  doing  so,  by  the  Almighty 
God,  whose  faithful  and  holy  servants  they  are. 

On  the  morrow,  according  to  the  word  of  Moses,  a  fatal 
pestilence  seized  upon  the  oxen,  the  bulls,  and  cows  of 
Egypt,  so  that  all  the  cattle  in  the  land  died.  When 


536  THE    PILLAK   OF   FIRE,    OR 

the  priests  of  the  sacred  ox,  Mnevis,  came  rushing 
from  their  temple  to  the  palace,  crying  that  their  god 
was  dead  with  the  murrain  ;  when  at  midnight  came 
before  him  the  priests  of  Apis,  exclaiming  that  the 
sacred  bull  was  also  dead,  then  Pharaoh  began  to  know 
and  feel  that  the  God  of  the  Hebrews  was  greater  than 
the  gods  of  Egypt.  Early  in  the  morning,  when  he 
rose,  hearing  that  not  one  of  the  cattle  of  the  Israelites 
was  dead,  instead  of  repenting  and  trembling,  he  be 
came  enraged,  acting  like  a  man  blinded  by  the  gods, 
when  they  would  destroy  him  by  his  own  acts. 

Judge,  my  dear  father,  of  the  patience  and  forbear 
ance  of  the  God  of  the  Hebrews  towards  him  who  still 
refused  to  acknowledge  His  power.  Behold  the  firmness 
and  steadiness  of  purpose  of  Moses  and  Aaron, — their 
•  courage  and  ""independence  J  What  a  sublime  spec- 
1acle  ! — two  private  men  contending  successfully  with 
the  most  powerful  king  on  the  earth  !  What  a  painful 
sight  to  see  this  most  powerful  king  of  the  earth  meas 
uring  the  strength  of  his  feeble  will  against  the  power 
of  the  God  of  the  universe  ! 

Upon  the  refusal  of  Pharaoh  to  let  Jehovah  have  His 
people,  that  they  might  serve  Him,  God  commanded 
Moses  in  a  vision  of  the  night,  beside  the  fountain  of 
Jacob,  where  He  talked  with  him  as  in  the  burning 
bush,  to  take  the  ashes  of  a  human  sacrifice,  to  be 
immolated  by  Pharaoh  the  next  day,  and  sprinkle  it 
towards  heaven  upon  the  winds.  He  did  so  ;  and  in 
stead  of  protecting  the  places  wheresoever  its  atoms 
were  carried,  they  broke  out  in  boils  upon  man  and 
beast,  breaking  forth  with  painful  blains.  The  magi 
cians  and  sorcerers,  essaying  to  recover  their  credit  with 


ISRAEL    IN    BONDAGE.  537 

the  king,  attempted  to  do  the  same  miracle;  but  the  boil 
broke  forth  upon  them  also  so  heavily,  that  they  could 
not  stand  before  Moses,  and  fled  with  pain  and  cries 
from  his  presence.  Yet  Pharaoh  remained  obdurate, 
and  grew  more  hardened  and  defiant;  for  the  boils 
touched  not  his  own  flesh. 

That  night,  the  Lord  appeared  unto  Moses,  and  com 
manded  him  again  to  make  his  demand  upon  Pharaoh 
for  His  people.  Then  stood  Moses  and  Aaron  in  the 
morning  before  the  king,  who  was  walking  up  and  down 
in  the  corridor  of  his  palace,  ill  at  ease ;  for  all  his  public 
works  were  stopped  by  the  sufferings  of  the  Egyptians ; 
and  his  soldiers  in  the  fourscore  garrisons  at  On,  and 
Memphis,  and  Bubastis,  and  Migdol,  were  unfit  for  mili 
tary  duty.  There  was  not  a  well  man  in  all  Egypt,  save 
in  Goshen. 

"  What  now,  ye  disturbers  of  Egypt  and  enemies  of 
the  gods  ?"  he  called  aloud,  as  he  saw  them  approach 
and  stand  before  him. 

"  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  of  the  Hebrews,"  answered 
Moses :  "  '  Let  my  people  go,  that  they  may  serve  me.' " 

"  The  same  words  !  Thou  shalt  never  have  thy  wish, 
— thou  nor  thy  God  !  Who  is  the  Lord  ?  Will  no  man 
rid  me  of  this  Moses  and  Aaron  ?  Speak !  What  more  ?" 

"  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  c  If  thou,  O  king,  refusest  to 
let  Israel  go,  I  will  send  all  my  plagues  upon  thy  heart, 
and  upon  thy  people,  that  thou  mayest  know  that  there 
is  none  like  me  in  all  the  earth !  For  this  cause,  O 
Pharaoh,  have  I  created  thee  and  raised  thee  up  on  the 
throne  of  Egypt,  that  in  thee  I  may  show  my  power ; 
and  that  by  my  dealings  with  thee,  My  name  may  be 
declared  throughout  all  the  earth.  All  nations  shall 

23* 


538  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

behold  My  works  with  thee,  and  My  vengeance  on  thy 
gods,  and  shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord,  and  God  of  all 
gods !  Thou  art  My  servant  to  show  forth  My  glory ! 
Thy  proud  heart  exaltest  thyself  above  Me,  and  against 
My  people,  and  tliou  wouldst  contend  with  Me !  Thou 
shalt  know  I  am  God,  ere  thou  shalt  be  cut  off  from  the 
earth;  and  that  the  heavens  are  My  throne,  and  the 
earth  is  My  footstool,  and  none  can  say,  What  doest  Thou  ? 
Behold,  to-morrow  I  will  darken  the  heavens  with  clouds, 
and  send  hail  upon  the  earth,  and  every  man  and  beast 
in  the  field  shall  die  by  the  hail.'  If  thou  regardest  the 
life  of  thy  servants,"  continued  Moses,  "  send,  therefore, 
for  all  thou  hast  in  the  field." 

This  threat  was  made  known  everywhere  in  a  few 
hours,  and  those  who  fear  the  word  of  the  Lord  have 
made  their  servants  and  cattle  flee  into  the  houses  pre 
pared  for  them ;  but  those  who  regard  not  the  warning 
have  left  them  in  the  field.  What  will  to-morrow  bring 
forth? 

Farewell,  dear  father. 

Warned  by  Aaron,  I  depart  at  once  for  the  sheltering 
skies  of  Goshen. 

Your  loving  son, 

REMESES  OF  DAMASCUS. 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  539 


LETTEK    X. 

CITY  OF  THE  SUN. 

MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

SCARCELY  had  I  reached  the  confines  of  Goshen, 
after  the  threatened  judgment  of  God  upon  Pharaoh, 
when  I  heard,  as  it  were  in  the  air,  a  voice  speaking, 
which  I  knew  to  be  the  voice  of  Moses ;  and  behind  me 
I  heard,  instantly,  loud  thunders  uttering  their  voices, 
and  the  earth  shook  beneath  my  chariot-wheels.  To  the 
right  of  me,  at  the  same  moment,  I  beheld  Moses  and 
Aaron  standing,  side  by  side,  on  the  tower  of  the  ruined 
fountain  of  Jacob,  beneath  which  I  was  driving ;  the 
former  stretching  forth  his  hands,  and  his  rod  therein, 
northward  towards  the  city  of  Pharaoh,  upon  the  obe 
lisks  of  which  the  sun  was  then  brilliantly  shining,  and 
was  also  reflected  in  splendor  from  the  shield  of  gold 
upon  the  lofty  tow^er  of  the  temple  of  Osiris.  Leaping 
from  my  chariot,  and  leaving  it  with  my  servants,  whom 
I  commanded  to  hasten  further  into  the  land  cf  the 
Hebrews,  I  drew  reverently  near  the  men  of  God,  feel 
ing  greatly  awed  by  their  presence,  but  assured  that 
near  them  was  safety, — though  they  were  the  visible 
sources  of  God's  terrible  wrath  upon  Egypt.  I  stood 
not  far  off,  and  beheld,  with  expectation.  Moses,  his 
rod  extended,  and  waving  eastward,  and  northward, 


540  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIEE,    OR 

and  westward,  stood  with  a  majestic  and  fearful  aspect, 
his  eyes  raised  to  the  heavens,  which  were  already  an 
swering  his  voice  by  far-off  thunderings.  He  continued, 
as  I  drew  near,  in  these  words  : 

"  And  let  thunder,  and  hail,  and  fire,  O  Egypt,  de 
scend  but  of  heaven  from  God  upon  thee,  and  let  the 
fire  mingle  with  the  hail,  and  smite  throughout  all  the 
land  of  Egypt,  all  that  is  in  the  field,  both  man  and 
beast,  and  every  herb  in  the  field,  and  break  every  tree  ! 
Only  in  the  land  of  Goshen  let  there  be  no  hail." 

~No  language,  my  dear  father,  can  convey  to  you  any 
idea  of  the  terrible  power  and  godlike  authority  with 
which  he  spake.  To  his  words,  Aaron  pronounced  a 
loud  "  A-men," — the  Hebrew  word  for  expressing  full 
assent  and  confirmation. 

Then  I  looked,  with  expectant  awe,  towards  the  land 
of  Egypt,  over  which  the  thunders  rolled  without  a 
cloud;  when,  lo !  from  the  north  came  rolling  onward  a 
black  wall  of  darkness,  which  I  perceived  was  a  mighty 
cloud  from  the  great  sea.  It  advanced  with  the  swift 
ness  and  roar  of  ten  thousand  war-chariots  rushing  to 
battle.  Out  of  it  shot  forth  lightnings,  and  its  increasing 
thunders  shook  Egypt.  In  a  moment  it  had  filled  halt 
the  heavens,  and  still  onward  it  rolled.  Beneath  it  moved 
its  shadow,  dark  as  itself,  extinguishing  the  light  upon 
obelisk,  tower,  and  pylon.  I  am  told  that  Pharaoh, 
from  the  top  of  his  palace,  witnessed  this  scene  also. 
Directly  the  sun  was  blotted  out,  and  the  city  of  On 
became  invisible.  Then  I  saw  fire  pour  down  upon  the 
earth  out  of  the  cloud,  as  if  lightnings  could  not  fast 
enough  exhaust  its  angry  power ;  and  I  heard  the  voice 
of  falling  hail  like  the  voice  of  the  sea  when  lashed  by 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  541 

a  storm.  A  million  of  Hebrews,  who  liad  gathered  in 
Goshen,  stood  and  beheld  what  I  did.  The  roads,  the 
fields,  the  plain  were  covered  with  people  flying  from 
the  terror  towards  Goshen. 

Onward  marched  this  awful  servant  of  the  Almighty, 
more  terrible  than  an  army  with  banners.  Fire  ran 
along  the  ground  before  it,  and  red  forked  lightnings 
shot  far  out  beyond  its  advancing  edge  athwart  the 
blue  sky,  while,  in  a  moment  afterwards,  the  cloud  of 
blackness  rolled  beneath,  like  the  sulphurous  smoke 
that  the  priests  of  Egypt  say  forever  rolls  above  the 
fiery  regions  of  Typhon  ! 

Each  instant  it  enlarged  its  compass,  until  from  east  tc 
wrest  it  enveloped  Egypt,  while  fire,  mingled  with  hail, 
ran  along  the  earth  beneath  it.  Now  behold,  my  father, 
the  power  of  God !  The  vast  pall  which  Jehovah  had 
thus  begun  to  draw  over  Egypt,  no  sooner  had  reached 
in  the  height  of  heaven  over  the  borders  of  Goshen, 
casting  its  very  shadow,  and  pouring  its  stones  of  hail, 
and  sending  its  tongues  of  fire  almost  to  the  foot  of  the 
tower  whereon  Moses  stood,  than  it  ceased  to  move  !  It 
became  stationary  in  the  air  a  mile  high,  and  there 
hung  beetling  over  the  verge  of  Goshen  like  a  crag,  its 
edge  working  and  agitated  by  the  wildest  commotion, 
and  shooting  its  lightnings  into  the  blue  calm  sky  over 
Goshen,  but  restrained  from  advancing  further  by  the 
power  of  Him  who  commandeth  the  heavens,  who 
maketh  the  clouds  His  chariot,  and  who  keepeth  the 
lightnings  in  His  quiver  ! 

At  length  the  darkness  became  so  dense,  that  it  seem 
ed  a  wall,  between  Egypt  and  Goshen,  from  the  ground 
up  to  the  cloud.  Over  the  latter  the  sun, — oh,  what  a 


542  THE   PILLAR    OF   FIRE,    OK 

sublime  contrast ! — shone  with  unclouded  brightness,  the 
winds  slept  peacefully,  the  fields  waved  with  the  ripened 
flax  and  full-eared  barley,  the  birds  sang  their  songs 
of  gladness,  and  the  children  of  God  dwelt  in  security, 
under  the  protection  of  His  gentle  love  and  terrible  power. 
Surely  Pharaoh  must  perish  if  he  dare  any  longer 
madly  to  resist  the  God  of  the  Hebrews,  who  has  now 
shown  that  He  is  God  of  heaven  as  well  as  of  the  earth, 
and  that  He  is  God  alone,  and  there  is  none  else !  If, 
my  dear  father,  your  early  instructions  had  not  made 
known  to  me  the  God  of  Noah,  who  is  the  God  of  the 
Hebrews,  I  should,  ere  this  last  manifestation  of  His 
awful  majesty  and  terror,  have  prostrated  myself  before 
Him  and  acknowledged  Him  as  my  God.  Wonderful 
that  He,  who  dwells  in  heaven,  should  stoop  to  behold 
things  on  the  earth,  and  make  such  displays  of  His 
glory,  and  majesty,  and  strength,  for  the  sake  of  a  poor, 
enslaved  people  like  the  Hebrews.  But,  as  the  holy 
Moses  taught  me  the  other  day,  when  I  was  humbly 
sitting  at  his  feet,  and  hearing  him  discourse  on  these 
mighty  events  (for  which  he  takes  to  himself  no  honor 
or  merit,  but  only  seems  the  more  meek  and  lowly  the 
more  he  is  intrusted  with  power  by  God),  these  displays 
of  God's  majesty  have  a  threefold  end :  first,  to  prove 
to  the  trembling  and  heart-crushed  Israelites  that  He 
who  is  so  terrible  in  power,  doing  wonders,  is  their  God, 
as  He  was  the  God  of  Abraham,  and  has  power  to  de 
liver  them  from  Pharaoh  ;  as  well  as  to  teach  them  that 
if  He  can  so  punish  the  Egyptians,  He  can  punish  them 
also,  with  equal  judgments,  if  they  rebel  and  do  wick 
edly  :  secondly,  to  punish  Pharaoh  for  the  oppression  of 
His  people,  to  afflict  the  land  upon  which  they  have 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  543 

groaned  so  many  generations,  and  to  show  the  Egyptians 
that  He  alone  is  God,  that  their  gods  are  as  stubble  in 
His  hand,  "  that  there  is  none  like  Him  in  all  the  earth;" 
and  thus  bring  them  to  acknowledge  Him,  and  to  fear 
and  worship  Him :  and,  thirdly,  that  the  word  of  His 
mighty  deeds  and  wonders  done  in  Egypt,  going  abroad 
to  the  ears  of  kings  and  princes,  priests  and  lords,  and 
people  of  all  nations  upon  the  earth,  may  give  them  the 
knowledge  of  the  true  God,  prove  to  them  the  impoten- 
cy  of  their  idols,  and  the  supremacy  of  the  God  of  the 
Hebrews,  in  heaven,  and  on  earth,  and  over  kings  and 
people.  "  Therefore,  and  for  these  ends,"  continued  the 
divine  Moses,  "  that  He  might  not  leave  Himself  without 
a  witness  before  men,  and  that  He  might  declare  His 
power  to  all  His  creatures,  and  His  care  for  the  oppress 
ed,  and  His  judgment  upon  kings  who  reign  by  cruelty, 
has  He  permitted,  not  only  the  bondage  of  our  nation, 
but  raised  up  such  a  man  as  Pharaoh,  in  wThom  to  show 
forth  His  power  and  judgments,  as  He  said  to  this  king, 
6  And  in  very  deed,  for  this  cause  have  I  raised  thee  up, 
to  show  in  thee  my  power,  and  that  my  Name  may  be 
declared  throughout  all  the  earth.'  Therefore  did  the 
Lord  God  say  to  me  in  the  beginning,  when  He  sent  me 
before  Pharaoh,  '  I  am  sure  that  the  king  of  Egypt  will 
not  let  you  go,  no  not  until  I  stretch  out  my  hand  with 
mighty  power,  and  smite  Egypt  with  all  my  wonders 
which  I  will  do  ;  and  after  that  he  will  let  you  go  !'  I 
did  not  understand  this  all  at  the  first,"  said  Moses; 
"  but  now  I  perceive  the  mind  of  God,  and  that  He  will 
do  His  will  upon  Pharaoh,  and  send  yet  more  terrible 
punishments ;  after  which,  humbled,  and  acknowledging 
God  to  be  the  Lord,  he  will  let  the  people  go !" 


54:4  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 


What  a  wonderful  mystery  is  passing  before  us,  O 
my  father !  How  dreadful  is  this  God  !  How  wonder 
ful,  how  glorious  is  His  majesty  !  Tn  His  presence,  and 
before  Him,  what  is  man  but  dust,  breath,  vanity  ?  ] 
humble  myself  before  Him,  and  feel  that  I  am  a  worm, 
and  no  man  !  Yet  Thothmeses,  like  a  madman,  stands 
and  defies  this  living  God ! 

Not  all  the  horror  of  the  plague  of  hail  and  fire,  of 
the  lightnings  and  thunderings,  moved  him  to  let  Israe] 
depart.  When  the  judgment  of  God  was  at  its  height 
driven  to  the  interior  of  his  palace, — from  the  tower  upou 
which  he  had  ascended  "  to  see  what  Moses  and  Aaron 
would  do,"  as  he  said, — he  remained  there  three  days, 
until,  unable  longer  to  bear  the  terrors  of  the  scene,  and 
the  cries  of  his  people,  he  sent  for  Moses  and  Aaron. 
ISTo  messenger  could  be  found  to  go  but  Israelisis,  your 
former  page,  who,  since  he  returned  to  Egypt,  is  a  ser 
vant  of  the  king,  greatly  devoted  to  him,  and  from 
whom  I  have  obtained  much  interesting  information  of 
the  effects  of  these  divine  judgments  upon  him.  Three 
couriers,  one  after  the  other,  had  been  struck  down  by 
the  hail.  But  the  Hebrew  walked  forth  fearlessly  and 
unharmed,  and  moved  through  the  showers  of  ice,  as  if 
he  bore  a  charmed  life.  This  alone  should  have  proved 
the  power  of  God  to  be  with  the  Hebrew  servant,  and 
against  Pharaoh  and  his  servants. 

Moving  through  the  darkness,  amid  the  fire  upon  the 
ground,  and  the  hail  and  scalding  rain,  the  man  arrived, 
and  told  Moses'  and  Aaron  that  the  king  had  repented, 
and  prayed  them  both  to  hasten  to  him,  for  he  knew 
their  God  would  defend  them  from  injury  on  the  way. 

The  king  is  represented  as  having  received  the  He- 


ISRAEL    IN    BONDAGE.  54:5 

brew  brothers  in  Ins  bath-room,  with  his  physicians 
around  him,  his  face  ghastly  with  fear,  and  anxiety,  and 
an  indefinable  dread.  It  is  also  said  that  his  manner 
was  servile  rather  than  humble,  and  that  his  speech  was 
mingled  with  lamentations  and  accusations.  When  they 
entered,  he  said : 

"  It  is  enough,  O  men  of  God,  it  is  enough  !  Entreat 
the  Lord  your  God  for  me,  that  there  be  no  more  mighty 
thunderings  and  hail,  and  I  will  let  you  go,  and  without 
any  longer  delay." 

As  he  spoke,  the  palace  shook  to  its  foundations,  and 
the  water  in  the  fountain  swayed  to  and  fro  with  vio 
lence,  as  in  an  earthquake,  while  the  hail,  descending 
with  a  great  noise  into  the  outer  courts,  was  piled  many 
cubits  in  height  against  the  columns,  the  sculptured 
work  of  which,  struck  oif  in  every  exposed  part,  fell  to 
the  earth  mingled  with  the  hail-stones. 

"  As  soon  as  I  am  gone  out  of  the  city  I  will  spread 
abroad  my  hands  unto  the  Lord,"  said  Moses,  "  and  the 
thunder  shall  cease,  and  the  hail,  that  thou  mayest  know 
how  that  the  earth  is  the  Lord's.  But,  O  king,  as  for 
thee  and  thy  lords,  I  know  that  ye  will  not  yet  fear  the 
Lord  God.  Has  He  not  mocked  the  power  of  your  pre 
tended  goddess,  Isis,  over  the  heavens,  and  seasons,  and 
winds  ?  Who  hath  known  a  rain  and  hail  in  Egypt  in 
this  month  ?  or  hath  seen  the  winds  blowing  clouds 
from  the  sea  ?  God  is  God,  and  Isis  is  no  god  ;  or  if  a 
god,  where  is  her  power  ?  Entreat  her  to  remove  this 
chamsin  of  heaven,  such  as  earth  never  before  felt  upon 
her  bosom." 

"  God  is  God,  and  entreat  Him  for  me,"  answered  the 
king,  with  a  feeble  gesture  of  impatience,  doubtless 


546  THE   PILLAR    OF   FIRE,    OR 

humbled,  and  yet  angry  at  being  compelled  to  consent 
to  lose  six  hundred  thousand  working-men  from  the 
mines  and  great  works  he  is  carrying  on  ;  for  though  he 
fears  the  number  of  the  Hebrews,  he  would  rather  re 
tain  them,  keeping  them  under  by  increased  oppression, 
than  release  them,  and  thereby  be  relieved  from  the 
apprehensions  to  which  their  unparalleled  increase  has 
given  rise. 

When  Moses  had  left  the  city  of  On  behind  him,  he 
spread  abroad  his  hands  towards  heave^i  unto  his  God  ; 
and  the  thunders,  and  rain,  and  hail,  and  lightnings 
ceased. 

Anticipating  the  removal  of  the  judgment,  I  had  been 
standing  for  some  hours  by  the  tower  and  fountain  of 
Jacob.  Suddenly  the  awful  mass  of  ebony-black  cloud, 
which,  for  three  days,  had  never  ceased  to  utter  its  voices 
of  thunder,  and  send  forth  its  lightnings,  hail,  and  fire 
upon  the  earth  beneath,  began  to  roll  itself  up,  like  a 
scroll,  towards  the  north.  The  thunder  ceased.  The 
lightnings  were  no  more  visible.  The  hail  fell  no  more. 
And,  as  the  cloud  receded,  the  shadows  upon  the  land — 
now  smitten  and  desolate — moved  with  it.  Gradually 
the  whole  landscape  reappeared ;  first  I  saw  the  walls 
of  On,  then  its  towers,  then  the  obelisks  caught  the 
light,  and  all  at  once  the  effulgent  sun  poured,  from  the 
clear  sky  above  it,  the  splendor  of  his  beams,  which  the 
shield  of  Osiris  caught  and  again  reflected  with  its  for 
mer  brilliancy.  Slowly,  but  with  awful  majesty,  the 
cloud  of  God's  anger  descended  the  horizon,  and  finally 
disappeared  in  the  north.  And  I  thought  that  mayhap 
its  dark  volume  would  be  seen  passing  over  the  sea, 
even  from  Tyre,  to  your  consternation  and  wonder. 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  547 

What  a  scene  of  desolation  the  land  presented  when, 
the  next  day,  I  returned  to  On !  The  fields  of  flax  and 
barley  were  smitten  and  consumed ;  the  trees  were 
broken  and  stripped  of  their  leaves,  either  by  the  fire  or 
hail ;  the  houses  and  villages  of  the  plain  were  devas 
tated  ;  in  all  the  fields  were  dead  corpses ;  and  cattle 
and  horses  which  had  escaped  the  former  plague,  or 
been  purchased  from  the  Hebrews,  were  lying  dead 
everywhere  with  their  herdsmen.  Chariots  and  their 
riders,  overtaken  in  flight  from  On,  lay  upon  the  high 
ways  ;  and  death,  desolation,  and  horror  reigned  ! 

Entering  the  city,  I  saw  soldiers  that  had  been  struck 
dead  at  their  posts  by  the  hail,  still  lying  where  they 
fell ;  and  the  streets  filled  with  the  dead  and  wounded, 
and  with  heaps  of  hail ;  while  the  sun  shone  down  upon 
a  scene  of  universal  wailing  and  woe  ! 

I  passed  on  to  the  palace  of  Pharaoh,  my  position  and 
rank  having  at  all  times  given  me  free  access  to  his  pres 
ence.  I  found  him  at  a  banquet,  as  for  three  days  and 
nights  he  had  scarcely  tasted  food  for  terror  and  confu 
sion,  neither  he,  nor  his  lords,  nor  servants.  They  were 
feasting  and  drinking  wine,  and  the  king's  face  was 
flushed  with  strong  drink ;  for,  seizing  the  present 
moment  of  security,  he  revelled,  striving  to  forget  the 
past  terrors.  As  I  entered,  his  singers  were  singing  a 
hymn  to  his  gods ;  and  when  it  was  ended,  Pharaoh, 
with  his  cup  in  his  hand,  cursed  the  God  of  the  He 
brews  who  had  sent  such  terrors  upon  his  land,  for  hith 
erto  he  had  said  it  was  the  gods  of  Egypt  who  had  done 
these  things,  forced  thereto  by  the  powerful  enchant 
ments  of  the  Hebrew  brothers. 

I  turned  away  from  his  hall,  refusing  to  go  in,  when 


548  THE    PILLAR   OF    FIRE,    OR 

Moses  and  Aaron  passed  me,  and  entered  his  presence. 
Upon  seeing  them,  Pharaoh's  heart  was  hardened  against 
them  and  their  God,  and  he  and  his  lords  rose  up  in  fear 
and  anger. 

"Are  ye  come  again  before  me,  ye  Hebrews?"  he 
cried,  in  his  wrath  and  wine.  "  I  will  not  let  Israel  go ! 
~Not  a  foot  nor  hoof  shall  stir  from  the  land !  I  have 
sworn  it  by  the  life  of  Pharaoh,  and  by  the  gods  of 
Egypt !" 

Then  Moses  answered  the  king,  and  said — 

"Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  of  the  Hebrews,  O  Pha 
raoh  :  '  Let  my  people  go  !  How  long  wilt  thou  refuse 
to  humble  thyself  before  me  ?  Let  my  people  go,  that 
they  may  serve  me;  else  on  the  morrow  will  I  bring  the 
locusts  into  thy  coasts,  and  they  shall  cover  the  face  of 
the  earth,  and  devour  what  remaineth  hi  the  field,  and 
shall  fill  thy  houses,  and  the  houses  of  all  the  Egyptian?, 
even  as  hath  not  been  upon  the  earth  u  ito  this  day  !' ' 

"  We  have  seen  locusts  in  Egypt,  O  Hebrew,  and  fear 
them  not,"  answered  Pharaoh,  with  a  laugh  of  derision. 
"Go  tell  your  God  that  Pharaoh  and  his  gods  defy  Him 
and  His  locusts !" 

Then  Moses  turned  himself,  and  went  out  from  Pha 
raoh.  But  the  lords  of  Egypt  feared,  and  said  unto 
their  king — 

"  How  long  shall  this  man  be  a  snare  unto  us  and  the 
evil  destiny  of  Egypt  ?  Let  the  men  of  the  Hebrews 
go,  that  they  may  serve  their  mighty  and  dreadful  God, 
as  He  commandeth  them.  Knowest  thou  not,  O  king, 
that  Egypt  is  destroyed  ;  and  the  locusts  will  destroy  the 
wheat  and  the  rye  which  are  just  bursting  out  of  the 
ground,  and  the  leaves  that  are  putting  forth  ?" 


ISltAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  549 

Then  Pharaoh  sent  for  Moses  and  Aaron,  who  had 
not  yet  reached  the  gate  of  the  palace,  and  when  they 
again  stood  before  him,  he  said — 

"  For  the  sake  of  these,  and  for  Egypt's  sake,  which 
thy  sorcery  has  nearly  destroyed,  I  yield  to  thy  demand, 
not  because  I  fear  thy  God.  Go,  serve  the  Lord  your 
God  ;  but  who  are  they  that  shall  go  ?" 

And  Moses  answered,  and  said  firmly  and  fearlessly — • 

"  We  will  go  with  our  young  and  with  our  old,  with 
our  sons  and  with  our  daughters  ;  with  our  flocks  and 
with  our  herds  will  we  go;  for  we  must  hold  a  feast  unto 
the  Lcrd,  and  a  sacrifice  unto  our  God." 

Then  Pharaoh  answered,  in  great  anger — 

"  Let  the  Lord  look  to  you,  not  to  me,  for  his  sacri 
fices,  as  if  I  will  let  you  go,  and  your  little  ones,  that 
you  may  feast  to  Him  !  Look  to  it !  Provoke  not  my 
wrath,  for  evil  is  before  you  !  Ask  not  so.  Go  now,  ye 
that  are  men  and  serve  the  Lord,  since  that  is  what  ye 
ask !  Now  leave  my  presence !  Ye  are  become  the 
curse  of  Egypt.  What !  Do  ye  linger  to  ask  more  ? 
Drive  the  men  forth  from  the  palace !" 

The  guards  followed  for  some  paces,  but  drew  not 
near  them  for  fear ;  and  with  calm  dignity  of  demeanor, 
the  divine  brothers  went  out  of  the  palace,  and  left  the 
city.  When  we  had  departed  from  the  presence  of 
Pharaoh — for  I  had  joined  their  holy  companionship — 
he  stretched  forth  his  rod  over  the  land  eastward, 
and  invoked  the  new  judgment  of  God  that  he  had 
threatened.  Immediately  a  strong  east  wind  arose,  and 
blew  all  that  day,  and  all  the  night,  each  hour  increas 
ing  ;  and  in  the  morning,  when  I  waked  at  a  great  cry 
of  the  people,  I  looked  forth,  and  beheld  the  heavens 


550  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

dark  with  a  strange  aspect,  wholly  unlike  a  cloud,  yet 
moving  like  one,  or,  rather,  like  a  great  ocean-wave  rolling 
along  the  sky.  It  was  attended  in  its  approach,  which 
was  from  the  direction  of  the  Arabian  Sea,  by  a  con 
fused  humming,  like  the  wind  sweeping  through  the  tall 
cedars  on  Libanus.  As  it  drew  near,  it  covered  half  the 
heavens,  and  appeared  many  hundred  feet  in  thickness, 
the  lower  surface  being  not  far  from  the  earth.  I  soon 
perceived,  from  the  cries  around  me,  that  it  was  the 
threatened  plague  of  locusts  corning  upon  Egypt,  loosed 
from  the  open  palm  of  God's  hand.  My  position  was  at 
a  window  in  the  house  of  Aaron,  and  not  far  from  the 
line  between  Goshen  and  the  rest  of  Egypt.  I  saw  them, 
as  they  passed  over  the  plains,  and  fields,  and  city,  and 
villages,  descend  in  showers  like  flakes  of  snow,  hun 
dreds  and  thousands  at  a  time,  until  the  whole  earth  was 
brown  with  them.  Thus  the  flight  continued  all  that 
day,  and  all  night,  and  all  the  next  day  and  next  night, 
— an  endless  cloud,  darkening  the  sun  by  day  and  the 
stars  by  night.  The  surface  of  Egypt  seemed  agitated 
and  alive  like  the  sea  after  a  storm,  restless,  and  in  con 
tinual  motion  in  every  part ;  while  the  noise  made  by 
the  wings  of  the  locusts  was  incessant, — a  monotone 
awful  to  hear,  without  variation  or  diminution,  till  the 
ear  became  weary  of  hearing,  and  in  vain  sought  relief 
from  the  deep,  angry  bass  of  this  voice  of  vengeance  of 
the  Hebrews'  God !  In  crossing  the  Nile,  myriads  fell 
into  it,  and  covered  its  surface, — galleys,  barges,  men, 
and  sails ;  and  the  water  was  defiled  by  their  presence. 
At  noon-day  there  was  a  dreadful  twilight  prevailing, 
for  the  beams  of  the  sun  could  not  penetrate  this  living 
cloud.  They  covered  the  whole  face  of  Egypt,  and 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  551 

their  voracity  left  not  a  bud,  or  leaf,  or  any  green  thing 
on  the  trees,  which  were  just  putting  out  again ;  or  in 
the  herbs  of  the  field,  which  had  sprung  up  since 
the  hail;  for  much  seed  was  in  the  ground,  which 
came  up  after  the  hail,  only  to  be  destroyed  by  the 
locusts. 

Then  the  people,  in  despair,  besieged  the  palace  of 
Pharaoh  with  great  cries.  Though  the  Egyptians  re 
gard  their  king  as  their  priest,  and  as  a  god,  and  are 
proverbially  submissive  to  his  will  and  power,  they  had 
now  lost  all  fear,  being  driven  to  despair  by  this  last 
plague.  Nothing  but  famine  and  death  were  before 
them,  and  their  wives,  and  little  ones !  Pharaoh  also 
became  alarmed  at  the  endless  power  of  the  God  of  the 
Hebrews!  He  had  long  since  given  his  magicians, 
Jambres  and  Jannes,  to  death,  because  they  failed  to 
keep  pace  with  Moses  and  Aaron,  and  he  evidently  felt 
that  this  was  the  power  of  a  God  he  could  no  longer 
compete  with.  He  therefore  sent  for  Moses  and  Aaron 
in  haste.  When  they  came  into  his  presence  they  be 
held  him  in  a  closed  room,  lighted  by  the  seven  golden 
lamps  which  Osirtasen  captured  from  the  king  of  Nine 
veh  ;  for  the  locusts  made  it  necessary  to  close  every 
shutter,  and  turn  day  into  night,  in  every  house.  He 
was  reclining  upon  a  lounge  covered  with  Tyrian  pur 
ple,  and  adorned  with  needle-work ;  and  was  surrounded 
by  the  ladies  of  his  palace,  who  were  imploring  him,  as 
the  Hebrew  brothers  entered,  to  let  Israel  go !  Even 
his  son,  the  careless  and  gay  Prince  Amunophis,  was 
kneeling  before  him,  and  urging  him  to  abide  by  his 
resolution,  to  grant  the  demand  of  the  God  of  the  He 
brews.  When  he  beheld  the  tall  ancLmajestic  persons 


552  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,   OK 

of  Moses  and  Aaron  enter,  he  rose  from  his  couch,  and 
cried — 

"  I  have  sinned  against  the  Lord  your  God,  and 
against  you.  Now,  therefore,  O  Moses  and  Aaron,  for 
give,  I  pray  thee,  my  sin  only  this  once,  and  entreat  the 
Lord  your  God  that  He  may  take  away  from  me  this 
death  only !" 

This  confession  seemed  to  be  made  with  a  certain 
frankness  and  sincerity,  and  a  show  of  deep  humility ; 
and  Moses  answered — 

"  The  Lord  forgive  thee,  according  to  what  is  in  thy 
heart.  I  will  entreat  the  Lord  for  thee,  and  the  plague 
shall  be  removed  from  thee  and  thy  people." 

Then  Moses  went  out  from  the  presence  of  Pharaoh  ; 
and  when  he  had  come  into  Goshen  he  ascended  the 
tower  of  Jacob,  and  entreated  the  Lord  for  Pharaoh. 
Immediately  the  cloud  of  locusts  became  tossed  as  with 
a  whirlwind ;  and  the  wind,  changing  from  the  east  to 
the  west,  blew  strongly,  and  pressed  back  the  mass  of 
locust-clouds,  sweeping  those  that  were  on  the  earth  into 
the  air,  and  rolling  the  whole  body  of  winged  creatures 
eastward.  This  wind  blew  all  night,  and  all  the  next 
day,  and  the  next  night,  a  mighty  wind,  and  on  the  fol 
lowing  morning  not  a  living  locust  was  visible  in  all  the 
coasts  of  Egypt. 

Moses  now  sent  messengers  all  through  Egypt,  calling 
upon  the  children  of  Israel  to  leave  whatever  they  might 
be  occupied  in,  and  assemble  themselves  in  the  land  of 
Goshen,  with  their  wives,  and  children,  and  flocks,  and 
all  that  they  had.  He  had  previously  sent  men  into 
Upper  Egypt  and  to  the  mines ;  and,  what  is  wonder 
ful,  the  Hebrews  in  the  mines  were  permitted  to  go 


ISKAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  553 

forth  from  thence  by  their  keepers,  for  the  fear  of  Moses 
had  reached  their  ears,  and  they  gladly  let  them  go ! 
The  messengers  whom  Moses  now  sent  everywhere, 
from  Migdol  to  Syene,  were  Hebrews,  and  were  no 
where  molested  as  they  went ;  for  a  fear  and  reverence 
of  them,  as  the  people  of  the  mighty  God  of  Moses,  had 
taken  the  place,  in  the  minds  of  the  great  body  of  the 
Egyptians,  of  their  former  contempt:  nay,  every  one 
was  willing  to  do  them  a  kindness. 

Now,  my  dear  father,  you  are  prepared  to  read  that 
Pharaoh,  according  to  his  word,  permitted  the  children 
of  Israel  to  depart  from  his  dominions.  But  Thothmeses 
IY.  is  no  ordinary  man  !  Probably,  such  a  character  as 
his~is~~unknown  in  the  history  of  kings.  Such  a  union 
of  opposite  qualities  is  rarely  encountered  in  one  indi 
vidual.  Superstitious,  yet  sacrilegious !  cowardly,  yet 
braving  death !  faithful  to  his  oath  to  his  gods,  yet  a 
perjurer  of  himself  to  men !  tender-hearted  as  a  woman 
to  his  own  children  and  family,  yet  cruel  as  a  tiger  and 
relentless  as  a  lion  to  the  Hebrews  and  their  little  ones ! 
Treacherous,  sycophantic,  malicious,  and  ironical,  he  is 
twofold  in  speech,  and  double-minded  in  secret  inten 
tion  ;  he  promises  when  in  danger,  and  revokes  his  word 
in  security !  Despising  his  foes,  yet  fearing  them,  he 
ilatters,  smiles  upon,  and  deceives  them  !  Trembling 
under  judgment,  he  denies  his  terrors  when  they  are 
past !  convinced  of  the  truth,  yet  opposing  it !  confess 
ing  the.  power  of  God,  yet  defying  it !  These  qualities, 
God,  who  reads  the  character  in  the  heart,  saw  in  Pha 
raoh,  and  knew  from  the  beginning  what  he  would  do, 
and  how  he  would  receive  Moses,  far  better  than  we 
can  know  how  our  well-known  friends  would  act  under 

24 


554  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

supposed  circumstances.  It  was  perhaps,  therefore,  on 
account  of  the  peculiar  character  of  this  Pharaoh,  that 
God  chose  the  time  and  the  man  for  showing  His  power, 
glory,  majesty,  and  terror  to  Egypt,  to  Israel,  and  to  the 
world!  Under  such  a  queen  as  Ainense,  or  such  a 
prince  as  the  mild  Thothmeses  II.,  the  first  miracle  of  the 
serpent  swallowing  the  rods  of  the  magicians,  would 
have  drawn  their  consent  to  let  Israel  go.  Where  then 
would  have  been  the  manifestation  of  the  power  of  God, 
that  the  earth  is  now  witnessing  with  awe  and  fear  ? 
God,  therefore,  knowing  what  was  in  the  man,  chose 
this  Pharaoh  as  the  person  in  whom,  through  the  natural 
agency  of  his  obdurate  heart,  He  might  make  manifest 
His  name  as  the  God  of  heaven  and  earth,  whose  power 
neither  man  nor  gods  can  resist.  Thus  Pharaoh,  un 
wittingly,  through  the  perversity  of  his  own  will,  and 
the  instability  of  his  character,  is  actually  carrying  out 
God's  ultimate  designs,  glorifying  Him  in  His  greatness, 
and  drawing  forth  these  stupendous  manifestations  of 
His  Almighty  power  over  earth,  and  air,  and  skies! 
Yet  is  he  no  less  guilty  before  God ;  for  he  does  not 
intend  His  glory,  but,  on  the  contrary,  denies  and  defies 
Him  in  its  every  successive  manifestation ! 

Pharaoh,  therefore,  did  not  stand  to  his  word  now, 
dear  father.  When  left  to  himself,  he  forgot  all  that  had 
gone  before,  and  sent  word  to  Moses  and  Aaron  not  to 
attempt  to  remove  the  Hebrews,  as  he  would  not  let 
them  go ;  for  Egypt  was  devastated,  and  nearly  ruined 
in  every  part,  and  he  must  first  have  the  labors  of  the 
Hebrews  to  restore  the  dikes  and  canals,  and  the  ter 
races  and  gardens  of  the  lakes,  and  then  he  would  let 
them  go. 


ISRAEL    IN   BONDAGE.  555 

Then  Moses  and  Aaron  went  at  noonday  and  sought 
the  Lord  as  aforetime,  in  the  silence  and  loneliness  of 
the  well  of  Jacob,  where  they  ever  prayed  nnto  Him, 
and  where  He  spake  unto  them  all  the  words  He  com 
manded  them  to  speak  before  Pharaoh.  And  when  they 
had  ended  their  prayers  and  supplications  before  their 
great  and  terrible  God,  whose  name  they  never  spake 
but  with  the  profoundest  awe,  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses  : 

"  Stretch  forth  thine  hand  towards  heaven,  that  there 
may  be  darkness  over  the  land  of  Egypt,  even  darkness 
that  may  be  felt." 

Obeying  the  command,  Moses  ascended  the  tower  of 
Jacob,  and  stretched  forth  his  hand  towards  heaven. 

Then  followed  a  scene,  my  dear  father,  of  solemn  ter 
ror.  The  atmosphere  became  the  color  of  blood.  The 
sun  disappeared  a?  if  extinguished.  A  thick  and  instant 
darkness  fell  upon  the  earth.  The  birds  ceased  their 
songs;  the  cattle  lowed;  the  wail  of  Egypt  went  up 
in  one  great  cry!  Though  On  is  several  miles  distant, 
the  cry  of  the  city  reached  the  ears  of  the  children  of 
Israel  in  Goshen.  But  with  them  all  was  light,  and  joy, 
and  beauty.  The  sun  shone ;  there  was  light  in  every 
dwelling ;  the  birds  sang  ;  the  green  harvests  waved  in 
the  joyous  sunshine  ;  the  verdant  fields  and  leafy  trees 
danced  in  the  soft  breeze  ;  for  no  plague  had  come  nigh 
the  Hebrews,  their  fields,  foliage,  or  dwellings.  The 
darkness  stood,  like  a  great  wall  of  black  mist  rising 
high  as  heaven,  between  Goshen  and  Egypt. 

Its  sudden  descent  upon  Egypt  caught  the  Egyptians 
on  the  road,  in  the  fields,  upon  the  Nile,  in  the  streets, 
temples,  and  palaces,  as  they  chanced  to  be ;  and  where 
it  fell  upon  them,  there  they  were  compelled  to  remain 


556  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

No  flame  could  burn  in  the  thick,  black  fog,  which  felt 
slimy  to  the  touch.  I  would  have  entered  it  for  a  mo 
ment  after  touching  it,  but  Aaron  warned  me  not  to 
tempt  God  ;  that  safety  was  alone  in  the  sunlight  of 
Goshen.  Out  from  the  black  abyss  came,  now  and  then, 
a  fearful  cry  of  some  desolate  wayfarer,  and  the  He 
brews  answered  kindly  back,  and  so  by  their  shouts 
directed  the  wanderer  in  the  darkness  how  to  move  to 
wards  the  light.  During  this  darkness,  the  Hebrews, 
by  the  command  of  Moses,  were  collecting  their  flocks, 
and  preparing  to  depart  to  sacrifice  to  their  God  :  also, 
those  who  had  not  been  circumcised  now  received  the 
rite. 

This  horrible  night  continued  without  change — with 
out  moon  or  star  to  lend  it  a  ray — until  the  third  day, 
when  Pharaoh,  unable  longer  to  hold  out  in  this  unequal 
combat  against  God,  sent  two  Hebrews,  born  in  his 
house,  to  Moses ;  for  only_  the  Hebrew  could  walk 
through  this  night  of  God  as  in  the  light.  "Without  a 
word  of  impatience  or  doubt,  Moses  and  Aaron  rose  up 
and  disappeared  in  the  awful  veil  of  darkness,  in  response 
to  the  summons  of  the  king.  No  sooner  did  Pharaoh 
behold  them,  than  he  cried  out,  in  a  voice  of  mingled 
complaint  and  condescension— 

"  Go  ye,  Moses  and  Aaron,  ye  and  yours,  only  let 
your  flocks  and  herds  stay  in  the  land ;  for  hast  thou 
not  destroyed,"  he  added  with  bitterness,  "  whatsoever 
parteth  the  hoof  in  all  the  land  of  Egypt  ?  Your  little 
ones  may  also  go  with  you."  This  was  spoken  in  a  tone 
of  condescension. 

And  Moses  answered  and  said : 

"Thcu  must  suffer  our  flocks  and  herds  to  go  with  us, 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  557 

0  king,  that  we  may  have  sacrifices  and  burnt-offerings 
wherewith   to  sacrifice  unto  the  Lord  our  God.     Our 
cattle,  therefore,  must  also  go  with  us.     There  shall  not  a 
hoof  be  left  behind." 

When  Pharaoh  heard  Moses  speak  thus  firmly  and 
boldly  to  him,  abating  nothing  from  his  first  demand, 
he  seemed  to  lose  his  reason  with  rage.  Casting  his 
sceptre  from  his  hand  at  the  two  brothers,  he  cried — 

"  Get  ye  from  me,  ye  destroyers  and  curse  of  Egypt ! 
Take  heed  to  thyself,  O  Moses,  and  see  my  face  no  more, 
for  in  that  day  thou  seest  my  face  thou  shalt  die !" 

Then  Moses  answered,  with  calm  and  severe  majesty : 

"  Thou  hast  spoken  well,  O  Pharaoh.  I  will  see  thy 
face  no  more.  But  hear  thou  the  word  of  the  Lord, 
which,  knowing  thy  heart,  He  hath  spoken  unto  me  to 
say  now  before  thee  :  c  I  will  bring  yet  one  plague  more 
upon  Pharaoh  and  upon  Egypt.  About  midnight  will 

1  go  out  into  the  midst  of  Egypt,  and  all  the  first-born 
in  the  land  of  Egypt  shall  die,  from  the  first-born  of 
Pharaoh  that  sitteth  upon  his  throne,  even  unto  the  first 
born  of  the  maid-servant  that  is  behind  the  mill ;  and  all 
the  first-born  of  beasts  :  and  all  these  thy  servants  shall 
bow  down  themselves  unto  me,  saying — "  Get  thee  out, 
and  all  the  people  that  follow  thee  ;  and  thy  lords,  and 
high  captains,  and  governors,  and  great  men,  and  all  who 
serve  thee,  shall  come  down  to  me,  to  urge  me  to  go 
forth  out  of  Egypt :  after  that  I  will  go  out." '     These, 
O  king,  are  the  words  of  the  Lord  against  thee.     Thou 
hast  cast  thy  sceptre  at  my  feet.     As  I  step  my  foot 
upon  it,  so  shall  the  Lord  place  his  foot,  upon  Egypt !" 

Thus  speaking,  Moses  went  out  from  Pharaoh  in  great 
angei\  As  he  left  the  palace,  the  Egyptians  prostrated 


558  THE   PILLAR   OF  -FIRE,    OR 

themselves  before  him,  and  sought  his  favor,  and  some 
cried,  "  He  is  a  god  !  Let  this  god,  who  is  mightier 
than  Osiris  and  greater  than  Serapis,  be  our  god  !" 

"  But  Moses  sternly  rebuked  them,"  said  Aaron,  who 
related  to  me  all  that  had  passed,  "  and  felt  deeply 
grieved  and  humbled  at  so  great  a  sin,  and  called  upon 
them  to  worship  God  in  heaven,  whose  servant  only  he 
was,  with  no  power  in  himself  to  do  these  wonders 
which  they  had  witnessed." 

Farewell,  my  dear  father.  My  next  letter,  without 
doubt,  will  convey  to  you  the  victory  of  the  Lord  God 
over  Pharaoh  and  his  gods,  and  the  deliverance  of  the 
Hebrew  from  their  bondage. 

Your  affectionate  son, 

REMESES  OF  DAMASCUS. 


ISRAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  559 


LETTEK    XI. 

REMESES    OF   DAMASCUS   TO    SESOSTRIS. 
WRITTEN  IN  THE  WILDERNESS  OF  ARABIA,  BT  THE  SEA. 

MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

THE  events  which  have  transpired  since  I  last 
wrote  to  you,  mock  my  pen  by  their  sublimity  and  in 
finite  grandeur.  Upon  a  rock  for  a  tablet,  the  desert 
around  me,  the  Sea  of  Edorn  before  me,  I  desire  to  re 
cord,  while  they  are  vivid  in  my  memory,  the  stupen 
dous  scenes  of  the  past  six  days.  The  millions  of  Israe. 
have  come  forth  out  of  Egypt!  The  Sea  of  Suphim 
is  between  them  and  the  land  of  their  bondage  !  But 
I  have  so  much  to  write,  such  wonders  to  relate,  that 
I  will  not  anticipate  your  curiosity,  but  proceed  to 
send  you  a  narrative  of  each  event  in  due  order.  Let 
all"  the  earth  say  that  the  Lord  God  of  the  Hebrews  is 
the  only  God :  besides  Him  there  is  no  God  ! 

The  day  that  Moses  and  Aaron  departed  from  the 
presence  of  Pharaoh-Thothmeses,  in  truth  to  see  his  face 
no  more,  the  Lord  commanded  them  to  call  together  the 
elders  and  people  of  the  Hebrews,  and  instruct  them  to 
take  a  male  lamb,  or  a  kid  without  blemish,  one  to  each 
household,  keep  it  till  the  fourteenth  day  of  the  month, 
which  day  was  just  at  hand,  and  kill  it  on  the  evening 


560  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,  OR 

thereof,  sprinkling,  with  a  bunch  of  hyssop,  the  lintel  and 
door-posts  of  their  houses  dipped  in  its  blood,  and  roast 
ing  the  flesh,  eat  it  at  night,  leaving  none  until  morning. 
"  And  ye  shall  eat  it,"  said  the  Lord,  "  in  haste,  with 
your  loins  girded,  your  shoes  on  your  feet,  and  your 
staff  in  your  hand ;  for  it  is  the  Lord's  passover,  who 
will  the  same  night  pass  through  the  land  of  Egypt,  and 
smite  all  the  first-born  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  both  man 
and  beast ;  and  against  all  the  gods  of  Egypt  I  will  exe 
cute  judgment !  I  am  the  Lord :  and  this  day  shall  be  a 
memorial  to  you  forever." 

.  Then  Moses  did  as  the  Lord  commanded.  Moreover 
on  the  day  of  the  night  on  which  the  lamb,  that  had 
been  selected  from  the  flocks  three  days  before,  was  to 
be  slain,  he  said  to  the  elders  of  Israel,  whom  he  called, 
together,  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord  your  God,  '  Let  none  of 
you  go  out  at  the  door  of  his  house  until  the  morning ; 
for  this  night  the  Lord  will  pass  through  to  smite  the 
Egyptians ;  and  when  he  seeth  the  blood  upon  the 
lintel,  and  on  the  two  side-posts,  the  Lord  willjpass  over 
the  door,  and  will  not  suffer  the  destroyer  to  come  in 
unto  your  houses  to  smite  you.' ':  There  were  also  other 
ordinances  of  bread  unleavened  established,  which  bread 
they  were  commanded  to  eat  for  seven  days,  at  the  "  feast 
of  unleavened  bread." 

And  when  Moses  had  proclaimed  these  and  other 
ordinances,  the  people  bowed  their  heads  and  worshipped 
God,  and  said  they  would  do  all  that  the  Lord  had  com 
manded  Moses  and  Aaron  to  say  unto  them. 

Then,  my  dear  father,  followed  a  scene  of  the  deep 
est  interest !  It  was  three  millions  of  people  preparing 
to  break  their  bondage  of  generations,  and  to  go  forth 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  561 

from  under  the  cruel  sceptre  of  the  king  of  Egypt  for 
ever.  The  mighty  miracles  of  Moses  had,  long  since, 
silenced  the  murmurs  and  doubts  of  the  elders,  openly 
uttered  at  the  beginning,  when  Pharaoh  in  revenge 
against  Moses  and  Aaron,  increased  their  burdens, 
and  denied  them  straw  for  their  bricks.  At  each  suc: 
cessive  miracle  they  had  gained  confidence  in  their 
powerful  advocate  before  Pharaoh ;  and  when  they  saw 
that  he  could  not  be  equalled  by  the  magicians,  they 
became  vain  and  proud  of  him,  whom  before  they  had 
condemned ;  and  waited,  with  wonder  and  expectation, 
their  mighty  deliverence.  At  the  occurrence  of  the 
sixth  miracle  they  threw  up  all  work,  and  no  Egyptian 
had  the  heart  to  say,  "  Go  to  your  tasks !"  for  they  saw 
that  God  was  with  them.  Thus  from  all  parts  of  Egypt, 
drawn  by  curiosity,  hope,  wonder,  and  a  desire  to  behold 
this  mighty  leader  whom  God  had  raised  up,  they  flocked 
to  Goshen,  until  the  land  was  filled  with  their  vast  num 
bers  !  The  houses  and  huts  could  not  contain  them,  and 
they  slept  by  thousands  in  the  fields,  and  by  the  way 
side.  When  they  perceived  that  the  darkness,  and  the 
locusts,  and  the  hail  approached  not  their  land,  the  most 
timid  and  desponding  took  courage,  and  lifted  their 
voices  to  the  God  of  their  fathers,  in  hope  and  gratitude. 
Indeed,  after  the  awful  plague  of  darkness,  thousands  of 
the  most  ignorant  Hebrews  shouted  that  he  was  a  god, 
and  the  Egyptians  of  all  classes  were  ready  to  acknowl 
edge  him  as  Osiris  or  Thoth  !  And  in  some  of  the 

O 

temples,  the  day  after  the  darkness  passed,  the  priests 
waved  incense  to  Osiris  by  the  name  of  Musseusiris,  or 
Osiris-Moses :  and,  I  doubt  not,  divine  honors  will  be 
paid  him  in  Egypt  for  generations  to  come !  Yet  this 


S62  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

xnighty  servant  of  God  moves  among  the  people,  aa 
anassuming  and  self-forgetful  as  the  humblest  of  his 
orethren,  quietly  giving  his  directions  for  the  greatest 
movement  earth  was  ever  to  behold — a  nation  march 
ing  in  one  day  from  bondage  to  freedom ! 
* .  I  moved  in  and  out,  everywhere  among  them.  There 
was  a  strange  joy  lighting  up  every  face.  Old  men 
looked  calm  and  happy ;  young  men  were  noisy  with 
hope ;  maidens  were  full  of  joy  ;  mothers  smiled  with 
delight,  as  they  clasped  their  babes  to  their  bosoms,  in 
the  certainty  that  they  would  not  grow  up  in  servitude 
to  Pharaoh.  All  eyes  were  turned  to  Moses  and  Aaron, 
as  they  passed  to  and  fro,  and  many  fell  on  their  knees, 
and  worshipped  them ;  while  others  shouted,  as  the  only 
way  they  could  express  their  emotions.  How  must  the 
heart  of  the  servant  of  God  have  swelled  with  gratitude 
to  his  Creator,  as  he  beheld  the  happiness  around  him ! 
And  how  deeply  he  must  have  realized  his  responsibility, 
as  he  reflected  that  the  hopes  of  three  millions  of  people, 
whom  he  had  assembled  in  Goshen,  with  the  promise  of 
deliverance  from  the  sceptre  of  Pharaoh,  hung  upon  his 
single  arm,  but  which  was,  for  the  time,  the  arm  of 
God! 

With  what  emotions  of  awe  and  expectation  did  the 
children  of  Israel,  each  at  the  door  of  his  house,  prepare 
to  slay  the  chosen  lamb,  and  sprinkle  its  blood  on  the 
side-posts  and  lintel !  To  them  it  was  the  command  of 
Moses  simply,  and  beyond  that  none  knew  the  signifi 
cance.  It  was  a  beautiful  and  serene  evening.  The 
Bun  had  filled  the  skies  with  golden  atoms,  and  the 
horizon  was  tinged  with  commingled  emerald,  blue,  and 
orange  colors,  fused  into  an  atmosphere  of  ineffable 


ISKAEL   IN    BONDAGE.  563 

glory.  It  seemed  as  if  the  presence  of  the  God  of  the 
Hebrews  was  in  His  skies,  beholding  His  people  !  At 
the  given  hour,  being  the  ninth  of  the  day,  a  hundred 
thousand  sacrificial  knives — held  in  the  hands  of  the  men 
of  a  whole  nation,  which  became,  for  the  moment,  a 
nation  of  priests  to  God — flashed  in  the  sun,  and  the 
blood  of  the  victims,  pouring  upon  the  land  of  Goshen, 
consecrated  it  as  the  altar  where  the  God  of  the  He 
brews  first  received  the  national  worship  of  His  people, 
and  their  recognition  of  Him  as  their  God. 

Then,  with  hyssop  dipped  in  a  basin  of  the  blood, 
each  man  sprinkled  the  door-posts,  and  cross-piece  of 
the  entrance  of  his  house,  in  behalf  of  all  who  either 
should  dwell  in  it,  or  who,  being  stranger-brethren, 
came  from  other  parts  of  Egypt,  and  could  enter  no 
house  for  the  throngs,  yet  were  numbered  with  some 
one  household:  as,  for  instance,  the  house  of  Aaron's 
father-in-law,  which  could  hold  but  thirty  people, 
had  on  its  list  three  hundred  and  seventy  names, 
as  its  household, — all  brethren  from  other  provinces ; 
for  Goshen  was  now  like  a  mighty  camp.  There  were 
besides,  hovering  about  the  confines  of  Goshen,  and 
even  mingling  with  the  Hebrews,  thousands  of  Egyptian 
families,  who,  flying  from  the  terror  of  the  Lord  in 
Egypt,  had  sought  safety  near  the  Hebrews,  and  under 
the  wing  of  the  God  who  had  protected  them, — hoping 
to  share  their  safety.  Many  of  these  brought  their  sub 
stance  with  them — their  rich  apparel,  their  gold,  and 
jewels,  and  silver — hoping,  therewith,  to  purchase  the 
favor  of  their €once  despised,  and  now  dreaded,  bond 
men. 

How,  my  dear  father,  shall  I  record  the  events  of  the 


56-i  THE    PILLAR    OF    FIRE,    OR 

night  that  followed  the  death  of  the  lambs!  As  the  sun 
went  down,  the  Hebrews,  with  awe,  retired  within  their 
dwellings,  and  closed  the  doors.  Mothers,  with  anxious 
haste,  drew  in  their  first-born.  Even  many  of  the  hap 
less  Egyptians,  who  had  heard  of  the  command  to  the 
Hebrews,  chose  a  lamb  and  slew  it — their  hands  trem 
bling,  and  hearts  sinking  between  hope  and  fear — and 
sprinkled  the  door-posts  of  their  wretched  places  of 
shelter,  if,  peradventure,  the  great  and  terrible  God  of 
the  Hebrews  would,  in  the  coming  night  of  His  venge 
ance  upon  Pharaoh,  seeing  the  blood,  pass  them  by,  and 
spare  their  first-born  also. 

At  length  a  silence,  like  that  which  forever  reigns  in 
the  heart  of  the  pyramids,  reigned  throughout  Goshen. 
"Not  an  eye  was  closed  in  all  Israel,  during  those  first 
hours  of  dread  watching  for  the  first  sound  abroad  of 
God's  coming  down  upon  Egypt.  I  remained  up,  in  the 
house  of  the  venerable  Aminadab,  the  father-in-law  of 
Aaron.  Elisiba,  the  wife  of  Aaron,  with  her  arm  around 
her  eldest  son  Nadab,  a  fine  young  man,  held  him  firmly 
by  her  side.  Aaron  and  Moses  were  apart,  in  a  room  by 
themselves,  engaged  in  low  conversation,  or  in  solemn 
prayer.  ISTo  other  sound  was  heard,  but  the  voice  of  this 
wonderful  man  talking,  as  if  face  to  face  with  his  God. 

Suddenly,  at  midnight,  a  bright  light  from  heaven 
shone  above  the  dwelling,  and  from  it  went  forth  a  glory 
which  filled  the  land  of  Goshen  with  its  beams.  I  stood, 
at  the  moment,  in  the  court,  and  fell  with  my  face  to 
the  earth  ;  for  I  knew  that  it  was  the  presence  of  God. 
At  length  Moses  touched  me,  and  said— 

"  Fear  not !  Eise  and  behold  the  glory  of  God,  that 
when  tlion  shalt  return  and  sit  upon  thy  throne,  tlmn 


ISRAEL    IN    BONDAGE.  565 

mayest  teach  thy  people  that  the  God  of  the  Hebrews 
is  the  God  of  heaven  and  earth !  For  thy  sake,  as  well  as 
for  Israel,  and  Pharaoh,  and  the  Egyptians,  and  all  the 
nations  who  shall  hear  of  this,  are  these  wonders  and 
judgments  done;  that  Pharaoh,  and  all  kings,  and  the 
whole  earth,  may  know  who  is  the  Lord,  and  worship 
only  Him !" 

I  arose,  and  lo !  in  the  height  of  heaven  I  beheld  a 
column,  or  pillar  of  fire,  the  base  of  which,  was  above 
the  roof  of  the  house,  and  the  summit  thereof  in  the 
region  of  clouds.  It  was  in  the  form  of  a  Hebrew  staff, 
with  a  bar  of  light  across  it  near  its  top,  upon  which 
seemed  to  be  a  crown  of  glory,  shooting  forth  thorns  of 
light  and  splendor.  In  this  cloud,  or  pillar  of  light, 
there  seemed  to  stand  a  form  like  that  of  a  man,  but 
resplendent  with  ineffable  radiance,  and  I  covered  my 
face  and  worshipped.  When  I  looked  again,  the  daz 
zling  vision,  if  such  it  were,  was  in  motion  towards 
Egypt,  and  the  city  of  On.  As  it  moved,  it  lighted  up 
the  whole  earth.  When  it  came  over  the  city  of  the 
Sun,  a  sword  seemed  to  be  drawn  by  the  man  who  stood 
in  the  pillar  of  fire,  and  I  beheld  it  sweep  over  the  pal 
ace  of  Pharaoh,  and  strike.  Then,  with  the  swiftnesf 
and  dazzling  gleam  of  lightning,  it  turned  every  waj 
over  Egypt,  till  I  could  not,  dared  not  behold  longer, 
and  bowed  my  head,  veiling  my  eyes,  and  adoring. 

Then  we  heard,  even  in  Goshen,  a  cry  as  from  the 
living  heart  of  Egypt,  as  if  every  mother  in  the  vast 
cities  of  On  and  Memphis,  and  the  hundred  surrounding 
villages,  had  lifted  her  voice  in  one  prolonged,  dreadful 
wail  of  woe. 

I  knew  what  that  cry  meant,  and  trembled  in  silent 


566  THE    PILLAR   OF    FIRK,    OR 

awe.  I  prostrated  myself  before  God  and  cried  for 
mercy ! 

At  length  the  sword  was  drawn  back  by  the  hand  of 
the  man  in  the  pillar  of  cloud,  and  the  shining  column 
returned  and  stood  over  the  house  where  Moses  and 
Aaron  remained ;  a  calm,  lambent  light,  soft  as  moon 
beams,  being  now  emitted  from  it,  instead  of  the  angry 
splendor  with  which  it  shone  before. 

One  or  more  hours  passed,  and  two  horsemen,  riding 
like  the  wind,  entered  Goshen  and  cast  themselves  upon 
the  ground  at  the  feet  of  Moses  and  Aaron.  They  were 
couriers  from  Pharaoh. 

"  My  lords,"  cried  one  of  them,  pale  and  trembling 
with  fear  and  haste,  after  he  had  risen  from  his  prostra 
tion,  "  the  king  hath  sent  us  to  thee,  and  these  are  the 
words  he  Lath  commanded  us  to  say:  'Rise  up,  Moses 
and  Aaron ;  and  get  you  forth  from  among  my  people, 
and  from  Egypt,  both  ye  and  the  children  of  Israel,  and 
go  and  serve  the  Lord  as  ye  have  said.  Take  your 
flocks,  and  your  herds,  and  all  that  ye  have,  and  be 
gone  ;  and  pray  your  dreadful  God  for  me,  that  He  may 
bless  me  also,  for  He  hath  slain  my  son !' ' 

Then  came,  while  he  was  yet  speaking,  a  large  com 
pany  of  lords,  and  high  officers,  and  great  men  of  Egypt, 
whose  sons  the  wrath  of  God  had  slain  (for  there  was 
not  a  house  in  Egypt  where  there  was  not  one  dead, 
from  the  first-born  of  Pharaoh  that  sat  upon  the  throne, 
to  the  first-born  of  the  captive  that  was  in  the  dungeon), 
and  they  were  urgent  upon  Moses  and  Aaron,  and  the 
Hebrew  people,  imploring  them,  with  tears  and  suppli 
cations,  to  hasten  from  the  land,  with  all  they  had,  and 
to  make  all  haste. 


ISRAEL    IN    BONDAGE.  567 

Then  Moses,  as  soon  as  it  was  day,  sent  word  through 
out  all  Israel  to  prepare  to  go  forth  ont  of  Egypt  that 
day.  He  directed  the  people  to  take  all  the  jewels,  and 
gold,  and  silver,  and  raiment,  which  the  Egyptians  were 
forcing  upon  them  to  bribe  them  to  hasten ;  "  for,"  lie 
said,  "  it  is  yours,  as  the  Lord  hath  commanded  yon  to 
spoil  the  Egyptians,  for  whom  ye  have  labored  without 
wages.  It  is  the  Lord's  gift  to  yon  from  those  whom 
He  would  spoil,  and  whose  lives  He  has  spared  to  them." 

Now  followed  a  spectacle  of  wonderful  interest  and 
sublimity.  As  if  moved  by  one  spirit,  Israel  marshalled 
itself  into  companies  of  hundreds,  and  these  into  bands 
of  thousands,  and  these  into  mighty  divisions  of  tribes, 
so  that  by  noon  there  were  twelve  separate  armies  of 
God,  ready  to  march  at  the  voice  of  Moses.  The  whole 
plain  of  Goshen,  as  far  as  the  eye  could  see  from  the 
tower  of  Jacob,  was  covered  with  their  mighty  hosts. 
Each  tribe  had  its  women,  and  little  ones,  and  flocks 
and  herds  within  its  own  square.  They  wraited  now  for 
the  signal  to  move  forward,  every  man  with  his  loins 
girded,  his  shoes  on  his  feet,  and  his  staff  in  his  hand, 
their  bread  unbaked  in  their  kneading-troughs,  and  their 
persons  laden  with  the  jewels  and  gifts  which  the  urgent 
Egyptians  had  forced  upon  them,  either  that  they  might 
see  their  faces  nc  more,  or  from  fear,  or  in  the  hope  to 
be  blessed  by  their  Lord  God  for  these  favors :  for  so 
the  Lord,  to  whom  the  gold  and  silver  of  the  earth  be 
long,  had  disposed  their  hearts  towards  the  Hebrews. 

Then,  at  the  going  down  of  the  sun,  Moses  gave  the 
signal  for  this  mighty  march.  There  were  no  trumpets 
sounding,  no  military  display  of  banners  and  spears ; 
but  they  moved  to  their  own  tread,  which  seemed  to 


568  THE    PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

shake  the  earth.  They  came  on  in  columns,  a  thousand 
men  abreast,  and  inarched  past  the  tower  of  Jacob,  on 
which  Moses  stood,  with  Aaron  by  his  side,  the  miracu 
lous  rod  in  his  hand.  When  the  van  of  this  army  of  Jeho 
vah,  terrible  in  its  strength,  came  up  with  the  tower,  the 
white  cloud  of  the  Presence  of  Jehovah  (which,  all  day, 
had  stood  in  the  air  like  a  snow-white  cloud,  immovable 
and  wonderful  to  behold),  advanced,  as  if  borne  upon  a 
gentle  wind,  and  placed  itself  before  the  host.  Night 
came  on  ere  half  the  divisions  had  passed  by  where  Mo 
ses  stood ;  and,  as  the  sun  went  down,  never  more  to  rise 
upon  Israel  in  Egypt^the  Pillar  of  Cloud  became  a  Pillar 
of  Fire,  and  shed  a  glory  ovei  the  innumerable  armies 
of  Israel  equal  to  the  splendor  of  day. 

It  was  midnight  ere  the  last  tribe  had  passed  by  with 
its  face  to  the  desert.  Then  Moses  and  Aaron  descended, 
and  I  kneeled  before  them,  and  asked  if  I  might  be  per 
mitted  to  go  out  of  Egypt  with  the  Lord's  people,  and 
continue  to  behold  the  power  of  God.  Moses  answered 
me  with  benignity,  and  said  I  should  be  with  him  as  a 
son,  that  I  might  see  the  wonders  of  Jehovah,  and  make 
known  in  Phoenicia  His  glory  and  power. 

While  he  was  speaking,  a  mixed  multitude  of  Egyp 
tians.  Nubians,  slaves,  captives  of  Egypt,  and  of  all 
those  persons  who  hoped  to  be  blessed  and  benefited 
with  Israel,  fell  to  the  ground  before  Moses,  and  en 
treated  him  to  suffer  them  to  go  up  to  the  new  land  to 
which  he  was  going.  Moses  granted  them,  without 
hesitation,  their  prayer. 

Then  I  learned  that  those  among  the  Egyptians  who 
had,  in  obedience  to  the  command  of  Moses,  sprinkled 
their  own  door-posts,  escaped  like  the  Israelites,  for  it 


ISRAEL    IX   BONDAGE.  569 

was  the  sign  of  the  blood  of  obedience  alone,  that  the 
angel  of  the  Lord  regarded  ;  on  the  other  hand,  several 
Israel itish  families  saw  their  first-born  perish,  they  hav 
ing  neglected  to  obey  the  command  of  Moses,  from  ava 
rice  or  indifference,  or  doubt  of  the  intention  of  God,  or 
supposing  that  being  Israelites  would  save  their  house 
holds. 

And  here,  my  dear  father,  let  me  make  known  to  yon 
that  I  have  learned  from  Aaron  the  significance  of  this 
sign ;  for  God  having  made  known  to  him  that  "  he  is 
to  become  the  high-priest,  as  Moses  is  the  leader,  of  his 
people,  has  revealed  to  him  that  the  slaying  of  the 
lamb  is  a  type  of  a  divine  and  innocent  Person,  who 
shall  come  down  from  God,  and  one  day  be  sacrificed. 
Earth,  as  the  antitype  of  Egypt,  is  to  be  the  altar  of  this 
future  stupendous  sacrifice.  And  as  by  the  blood  of  a 
lamb,  and  the  death  of  the  first-born,  Israel  is  deliv 
ered  from  Egypt,  so  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  the 
first-born  of  God,  shall  the  whole  of  mankind  who  look 
to  his  blood  be  finally  delivered  from  this  earth,  and 
from  Satan  its  Pharaoh,  and  be  led  by  God  into  a 
heaven  above  the  skies,  a  land  of  eternal  happiness  and 
peace,  to  dwell  there  till  the  end  of  ages." 

Is  not  this  a  sublime  doctrine  ?  Is  God,  then,  making 
with  Israel,  an  outline  of  what  He  is  to  perform  with  the 
whole  earth  ?  Shall  we  escape  this  world-broad  Egypt, 
and  under  a  divine  leader  like  Moses,  by  the  blood  of 
the  mysterious  Lamb  of  God,  be  led  to  another  world  ? 
I  have  but  indistinct  knowledge,  my  dear  father,  of  all 
this ;  but  have  learned  enough  to  make  my  heart  bound 
with  joy.  For  in  this  enlarged  conception  of  the  won 
derful  theme,  you  and  I,  and  all  in  the  whole  earth,-- 


570  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,   OR 

who  shall  look  to  the  God  of  Israel,  and  by  foresight 
of  faith  trust  in  the  sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  the 
Lamb  upon  the  threshold  of  our  hearts, — are  also  of 
Israel ;  their  God  is  our  God  ;  their  land  of  heaven 
our  land  of  promise  also  !  Oh,  who  can  fathom  the 
wisdom,  and  goodness,  and  love,  and  power  of  God ! 
To  His  name  be  glory,  majesty,  dominion,  and  worship 
from  all  nations !  Before  Him  let  kings  fall  down,  and 
princes  prostrate  themselves,  and  every  knee  of  all 
people,  nations,  kindred,  and  tongues,  be  bent ;  for  He 
is  the  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  and  besides  Him  there 
is  no  God ! 

Also,  my  dear  father,  Moses,  whose  lips  ever  distil 
celestial  wisdom,  was  graciously  pleased,  on  the  night 
before  the  death  of  the  first-born,  as  he  walked  to  and 
fro  in  the  court  of  the  house  of  Aminadab,  to  reveal  to 
me  the  divine  aim  in  sending  such  miracles  as  He  did 
upon  Egypt,  instead  of  any  others.  I  listened  with 
wonder  and  increased  awe,  and,  if  I  may  so  express  it, 
redoubled  admiration  of  the  wisdom  and  justice  of  God. 

Said  the  holy  Hebrew  and  sage,  "The  Egyptians  have 
ever  believed,  that  the  jugglery  and  magic  arts,  in  which 
their  magicians  and  priests  of  mysteries  display  such 
astonishing  proficiency,  are  actual  miracles,  exhibiting 
the  power  of  their  deities,  and  their  co-operation  with 
their  priests  to  enable  them  to  do  these  deceptions. 
Miracles,  therefore  (or  magic),  were  regarded  by  them 
as  acts  of  their  idols.  It  became  necessary  that  the 
'•/Lord  God  of  the  Hebrews  should  manifest  Himself 
and  His  power  by  miracles  also  ;  and  not  only  this, 
but  that  the  miracles  which  He  performed  should  be 
of  such  a  character  as  to  distinguish  them  from  the 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  571 

jugglery  of  the  magicians,  and  at  once  convince  the 
Egyptians  that  they  proceeded  from  a  Being  omnipotent 
over. ..their  idols,  and  show  the  Israelites  themselves,  who 
had  almost  forgotten  God,  that  the  author  of  such 
mighty  miracles  as  they  beheld,  must  be  the  only  liv 
ing  and  true  God  of  the  earth  and  skies.  Now,  my 
dear  Remeses,"  he  continued,  "  if  you  will  give  heed  to 
my  words  for  a  few  moments,  you  will  perceive  how 
perfectly  fitted  the  ten  miracles  which  God  performed 
in  the  sight  of  Pharaoh,  Egypt,  and  Israel,  were  to  de 
stroy  their  faith  in  the  gods  of  Egypt,  and  make  known 
the  true  God  as  the  only  Deity  to  be  feared  and  wor 
shipped  by  men. 

"At  first,  in  conformity  with  the  Divine  purpose,  the 
strength  of  the  magicians  was  brought  out  and  fairly 
measured  with  my  own,  as  God's  servant,  inspired  by 
Him,  for  of  myself  I  did  nothing.  Unless  this  trial  of 
skill  had  been  made,  both  the  Egyptians  and  doubting 
Israelites  would  have  said  that  I  derived  my  power 
from  their  gods  (for  they  would  not  forget  I  had  been 
an  Egyptian  and  knew  their  mysteries),  and  God  would 
not  have  been  honored.  But  when  the  royal  magicians 
appeared  in  the  name  of  the  gods  of  Egypt,  lo  !  the  God 
of  heaven  was  shown  not  only  to  be  superior  to  their 
sorcerers  by  His  miracles,  but,  as  you  will  perceive, 
hostile  to  their  idolatrous  worship.  The  observers  of 
both  sides  were  permitted  not  only  to  distinguish  the 
power  of  God  from  the  inferior  arts  of  the  magicians 
of  Egypt,  but  are  led  to  withdraw  with  us,  as  is  the 
case  with  tens  of  thousands  who  seok  to  follow  us 
from  Goshen, — their  confidence  in  the  protection  and 
power  of  their  gods  being  utterly  destroyed.  Observe 


572  THE   PILLAK   OF   FIRE,    OR 

now,  my  dear  prince,  the  direction  taken  by  the  mir 
acles. 

"The  first  one,  which  confirmed  my  authority  and 
mission  to  Pharaoh,  destroyed  the  serpents.  This  was 
the  first  assault  of  the  Almighty  upon  the  gods  and 
sacreli  animals  and  things  of  Egypt ;  for  you  are  aware 
of  the  temple  of  the  sacred  Urseus,  where  the  serpent  is 
worshipped.  The  serpent  of  the  rod  of  God  destroying 
the  serpents  of  the  Egyptians,  showed  Pharaoh  that  his 
gods  could  not  live,  or  save  themselves  in  the  presence 
of  the  servant  of  the  true  God.  Thus  the  serpent  form 
taken  by  the  rod  was  not  merely  an  arbitrary  shape ; 
there  was  profound  design  concealed  thereunder. 

"  The  Nile  is  held  sacred,  revered  as  a  god  by  the 
Egyptians,  and  the  fish  they  regard  as  holy.  Its  waters 
supply  all  Egypt  with  a  drink  which  they  quaff  with 
reverence  and  pleasure,  believing  that  a  healing  virtue 
dwells  in  its  waves.  Changed  to  blood,  and  its  fish  oe- 
coming  putrid,  they  loathed  their  god  and  fled  from  his 
banks  with  horror. 

"  The  next  miracle — of  frogs — was  also  directed  against 
a  god  of  the  Egyptians  and  the  worship  of  these  unclean 
animals.  He  was  made  to  become  their  curse  ;  and  as 
they  dared  not  kill  them,  being  sacred,  they  became  to 
them  a  terror  and  a  disgust  unspeakable. 

"The  miracle  which  followed  was  directed  against 
their  priests  and  temples  ;  for,  by  the  laws  of  the  forty- 
two  books,  no  one  could  approach  the  altars  upon  which 
BO  impure  an  insect  harbored ;  and  the  priests,  to  guard 
against  such  an  accident,  wore  white  linen,  and  shaved 
their  heads  and  bodies  every  other  day.  The  severe  na 
ture  of  this  miracle,  as  aimed  against  the  religious  rites 


ISRAEL   IN    BONDAGE.  573 

and  altar-services  of  the  Egyptians,  you  will  perceive. 
So  keenly  did  the  magicians  feel  this,  and  foresee  how 
it  would  close  every  temple  in  Egypt,  that  they  were 
forced  to  exclaim,  in  my  presence — - 


" '  This  is  the  finger  of  God  !' 


"  The  succeeding  and  fifth  miracle  was  designed  to 
destroy  the  confidence  of  the  Egyptians  in  their  god  of 
flies,  Baal-zebul.  This  god  had  the  reputation  of  pro 
tecting  Egypt  from  the  swarms  of  flies  which,  at  certain 
seasons,  infest  the  air  throughout  all  Egypt.  The  in 
ability  of  the  magicians  who  were  sent  for  by  Pharaoh 
to  remove  them,  showed  that  the  Lord  God  was  more 
powerful  than  their  fly-god,  and  thus  led  them  to  look 
upon  their  own  idol  with  contempt. 

"  The  miracle  which  destroyed  their  cattle  was  aimed 
at  Apis,  and  Mnevis,  and  Amun,  the  ram-headed  god  of 
Thebes,  and  at  the  entire  system  of  their  worship  of  ani 
mals.  Thus,  by  this  one  act  of  power,  the  Lord  Jeho 
vah  vindicated  His  own  honor,  and  destroyed  their  con 
fidence  in  their  idols,  and  the  very  existence  of  their 
gods. 

"  When,  by  the  command  of  God,  I  took  ashes  from 
the  altar  of  human  sacrifices,  and  sprinkled  it  towards 
heaven,  as  did  their  priests,  to  avert  evil,  and  evil  came 
in  the  shape  of  the  boil,  God  taught  them,  that  what 
they  trusted  to,  He  could  make  against  them,  and  out  of 
their  idolatrous  rites  bring  a  curse  upon  them  and  upon 
Egypt. 

"The  eighth  miracle,"  continued  Moses,  while  I  gave 
ear  to  his  words  with  wondering  attention,  "  was  di 
rected  at  the  worship  of  Isis,  as  the  moon,  and  controller 
of  the  seasons,  and  clouds,  and  weather.  When  the 


574:  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

liail  and  the  rain,  the  lightning  and  thunder,  was  brought 
bj  God  upon  the  land,  and  all  the  prayers  to  Is.'.s  failed 
to  stay  the  fearful  tempest  of  His  wrath,  it  should  have 
convinced  Pharaoh  of  the  folly  of  his  idolatry,  and  taught 
the  people  not  to  put  their  trust  in  an  idol  that  could  not 
help  them  against  the  power  of  the  God  of  the  Hebrews. 

"The  miracle  which  followed,  was  directed  against 
the  adoration  and  rites  of  Serapis,  and  his  whole  gor 
geous  system  of  worship  ;  for  the  Egyptians  saw  that  the 
god  who  was  regarded  as  their  peculiar  protector  against 
the  destructive  power  of  locusts,  was  impotent  to  re 
move  the  cloud  of  these  voracious  insects,  which  God 
brought  upon  them  from  the  sea ;  and  that  only  when 
Pharaoh  entreated  God,  were  they  removed. 

"  The  last  miracle  was  aimed  at  the  universal  worship 
of  Osiris,  or  the  Sun.  It  was  intended  to  teach  Pha 
raoh  and  the  Egyptians,  and  also  Israel,  that  the  God  of 
the  Hebrews  was  superior  to  their  'lord  of  the  sun,' 
and  that  He  could  veil  His  splendor  when,  and  for  any 
length  of  time,  it  pleased  Him!  And  also  that  they 
were  called  by  the  exhibition  of  this  mighty  miracle  to 
worship  Him  who  made  the  sun,  and  moon,  and  stars, 
and  all  the  glory  of  them — Jehovah  is  His  name !" 

When,  my  dear  father,  the  man  of  God  had  ceased 
speaking,  I  remained  for  some  time  silent  with  awe, 
meditating  upon  what  I  had  heard ;  worshipping,  and 
adoring,  and  praising  God,  whose  wisdom,  and  power, 
and  judgments,  are  over  all  His  works,  who  will  not 
give  His  glory  to  another,  nor  leave  Himself  without  a 
witness  of  His  existence  upon  earth. 

Thus  you  see,  my  dearest  father,  that  the  miracles 
were  not  arbitrary  displays  of  power,  but  grand  divine 


ISRAEL    IN   BONDAGE.  575 

lessons,  mingled  with  judgments.  It  was  JEHOVAH  vin 
dicating  His  own  worship,  and  showing  the  impotency 
of  false  gods,  by  the  manifestation  of  His  supreme  power 
and  majesty,  as  the  destroyer  of  gods,  and  the  only 
potentate, — God  of  gods,  King  of  kings,  and  Ruler  over 
all,  blessed  for  evermore  ! 

Having  now  revealed  to  you  the  mystery,  veiled 
under  the  miracles  of  Moses,  I  will  close  my  long  letter, 
leaving  you  to  reflect,  my  father,  upon  the  wonders  of 
God,  and  to  contemplate  His  wisdom.  In  one  or  two 
more  letters,  I  shall  close  my  correspondence ;  as,  trav 
elling  in  the  desert,  I  shall  have  no  opportunity  to  com 
municate  with  you.  I  shall  proceed  into  Syria  by  the 
caravan  route  in  a  few  days,  and  by  the  way  of  Pales 
tine  and  the  valley -of  the  Jordan,  return  to  Damascus, 
and  thence,  as  soon  as  my  affairs  will  permit,  shall  hasten 
to  see  you  at  your  palace  in  Tyre. 

Farewell,  my  dear  father. 

Tour  affectionate  son, 

REMESES  OF  DAMASCUS. 


576  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE.    OR 


LETTER    XII. 

PRINCE   REME8ES   OF   DAMASCUS   TO   KING    SESOSTRI8. 

HOEEB    IN    THE    DESEKT. 

MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

I  WILL  now  resume  the  subject  which  occupied 
the  foregoing  portion  of  my  last  letter,  namely,  the  de 
parture  of  the  twelve  armies  of  the  Hebrews  from  the 
land  of  Egypt. 

When  the  last  division  had  passed  the  tower,  after 
midnight,  Moses  and  Aaron  went  forward  and  travelled 
all  night,  along  the  column  of  march,  addressing  the 
leaders  of  tribes,  divisions,  thousands,  and  hundreds,  as 
they  went,  giving  them  words  of  courage,  and  command 
ing  them  to  keep  in  view  the  Pillar  of  Fire. 

This  Divine  Glory,  which  the  whole  people  of  the 
Hebrews,  and  even  the  Egyptian  followers,  were  per 
mitted  to  behold  and  gaze  at  with  wonder,  as  if  it  were 
the  moon  or  sun,  moved  onward,  far  in  advance  of  the 
last  division,  and  seemingly  directly  over  the  head  of 
the  column.  When  I  reached,  with  Moses,  the  van  of 
the  mighty  slowly-moving  host,  I  perceived  that  a  sort 
of  sarcophagus  on  wheels  was  dra\vn  by  twelve  oxen  in 
front  of  all ;  and  that  over  this,  the  "  shekinah,"  as  Aaron 
termed  the  presence  of  God  in  the  cloud  of  light,  was 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE«  577 

suspended.  I  had  not  seen  this  before,  but  knew  that 
it  must  contain  the  embalmed  body  of  Prince  Joseph, 
which  the  children  of  Israel  had  jealously  guarded  and 
concealed  from  the  Pharaohs  of  the  present  dynasty, 
waiting  the  time  of  the  deliverance  ;  for  the  venerable 
Joseph,  on  his  death,  had  taken  an  oath  from  his  breth 
ren,  the  children  of  Israel,  that  they  would  carry  up  his 
bones  out  of  Egypt,  when  God  should  send  the  deliverer 
to  bring  them  forth. 

Faithfully  were  this  wonderful  people  now  fulfilling 
the  oath  of  their  fathers  to  Joseph,  after  more  than  two 
hundred  years  had  passed.  Thus  their  going  out  of 
Egypt  bore  a  resemblance  to  a  national  funeral.  At 
the  side  of  the  sarcophagus  Moses  and  Aaron  walked, 
and  thus  the  solemn  march  advanced  towards  the  wil 
derness.  All  that  night  they  journeyed  from  the  plain 
of  Raamses,  and  came  to  the  verge  of  a  rocky  valley 
wliert;  the  way  was  rough,  compared  with  the  fertile 
and  level  plains  of  Egypt.  When  the  sun  arose,  the 
pillar  of  fire,  faded,  as  it  were,  into  a  columnar  cloud 
which  still  advanced  miraculously  and  wonderfully  be 
fore  us.  When  the  heat  of  the  day  increased,  the  cloud 
descended  and  rested  over  a  place  called  Succoth. 
Here  Moses  ordered  the  people  to  encamp,  and  bake 
their  unleavened  bread  which  they  brought  with  them 
in  their  kneading-troughs  from  Egypt.  The  next  night 
they  travelled  up  the  valley  to  a  place  called  Etham,  a 
short  journey  ;  and  thence,  after  a  rest,  turning  back  a 
little,  they  traversed  the  valley  between  rocks  eastward, 
and  encamped  at  a  well  of  water  called  Pi-hahiroth, 
where  there  were  many  palm-trees.  Here  they  re 
mained  to  rest,  with  the  hills  on  either  hand,  wondering 

25 


5TS  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

why  God  should  not  have  let  them  pass  into  the  desert 
at  Etham,  instead  of  bringing  them  into  that  defile, 
which  seemed  to  have  no  outlet  but  at  the  shore  of  the 
sea.  Passing  Pi-hahiroth,  with  its  castle  and  garrison, 
the  latter  of  which  fled  at  our  advance,  as  also  the  gar 
rison  of  the  tower  of  Migdol,  which  guarded  the  way  to 
Egypt  from  the  Arabian  Sea,  and  so  up  the  cliffs  of  the 
valley-sides,  Moses  encamped  between  Migdol  and  the 
sea,  which  spread  far  away  eastward  in  front,  with  the 
towers  and  fortified  city  of  Baal-zephon  visible  on  the 
opposite  side.  The  Pillar  of  Cloud  had  indicated  this 
place  of  encampment,  by  resting  above  it  near  the 
shore. 

When  I  surveyed  the  place,  I  marvelled  to  know  how 
Moses  would  move  forward  the  next  day ;  for  the 
mountainous  ridges  of  the  rocky  valley,  along  which 
we  had  come,  continued  close  to  the  shore  of  the  sea  on 
the  right  hand,  and  on  the  left,  and  I  could  perceive,  as 
I  walked  to  the  place,  no  room  for  a  single  man,  much 
less  an  army,  to  go  either  south  or  north  between  the 
mountains  and  the  water;  for  the  sea  broke  with  its 
waves  against  its  perpendicular  sides.  I  concluded, 
therefore,  that  on  the  morrow  the  whole  host  would 
have  to  retrace  its  steps,  and  enter  the  desert  by  the  way 
of  Etham,  where  it  had  before  encamped,  and  so  make 
a  sweep  around  the  head  of  the  sea  to  the  northward 
and  eastward.  But  I  did  not  express  to  any  one  my 
thoughts.  The  calm  majesty  and  repose  of  Moses  awed 
me.  Upon  his  expansive  brow  was  stamped  confidence 
in  his  God,  who,  if  need  were,  could  make  a  road  across 
the  sea  for  His  people,  for  whose  deliverance  He  had 
done  such  wonders.  I  reflected,  too,  that  the  leader  was 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  579 

God  himself,  and  that  He  had  gone  before,  and  led  them 
to  the  place  where  they  were.  I  therefore  waited  the 
will  of  God,  to  see  what  in  His  wrisdom  He  would  do. 

How  little  did  I  anticipate  the  end  !  Plow  far  was  I 
from  understanding  that  God  had  led  His  people  into 
this  defile,  which  had  no  outlet  but  that  by  which  they 
entered,  in  order  to  display  His  glory,  and  present  to  the 
world  the  final  exhibition  of  His  power,  and  his  judg 
ments  upon  Pharaoh  and  the  Egyptians ! 

The  divinely  inspired  Moses  seemed  to  understand  my 
thoughts,  when  I  returned  to  the  camp. 

"  My  son,"  he  said,  "  this  is  done  to  try  Pharaoh  ;  for, 
when  he  heareth  that  we  are  in  the  valley  of  Pi-hahi- 
roth,  before  Migdol,  he  will  say,  'They  are  entangled  in 
the  land — the  wilderness  hath  shut  them  in.'  'Then/ 
saith  the  Lord  to  me,  '  Pharaoh  will  repent  that  he  let 
you  and  my  people  go,  and  he  will  follow  after  you,  and 
when  he  shall  come  after  you,  I  will  be  honored  upon 
Pharaoh  and  upon  all  his  host ;  that  the  Egyptians  may 
know  that  I  arn  the  Lord.'  God  will  yet  avenge  Him 
self  upon  this  wicked  king,  and  reward  him  for  all  his 
wickedness  that  he  hath  done  against  Him  and  His 
people  Israel!  "Wait,  and  thou  shalt  see  the  power 
of  God,  indeed !" 

With  what  expectation,  and  writh  what  confidence  in 
God  I  waited  the  result,  my  dear  father,  you  may  con 
ceive.  How  wonderful  is  this  God,  and  His  ways  how 
past  finding  out !  "  It  was  just  four  hundred  and  thirty 
years  from  the  day  Israel  left  Egypt,"  said  Aaron  to  me, 
"  to  the  day  their  father  Abram  left  Chaldea  for  Canaan  ; 
and  that,  their  books  say,  is  the  exact  time  prophesied 
for  their  deliverance.  Their  actual  residence  in  Egypt, 


580  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

from  the  Syrian  Prince  Jacob's  coming  to  settle  in 
Goshen,  to  the  day  they  left,  was  two  hundred  and 
fifteen  years.  The  existence  of  their  'bondage  began  at 
the  death  of  Joseph,  who  died  sixty-five  years,  not 
seventy,  as  you  supposed,  before  the  birth  of  Moses. 
This  servant  of  God  is  now  eighty  years  old ;  therefore, 
the  number  of  years  that  they  ivcre  in  servitude  is  one 
hundred  and  forty-five,  or  equal  to  five  generations. 
Thus,  were  the  descendants  of  Abraham,  and  Abraham 
himself,  wanderers  without  any  country  of  their  own 
for  four  hundred  and  thirty  years,  according  to  the  word 
of  the  Lord  to  Abraham ;  not  all  this  time  in  bondage, 
indeed,  but  under  kings  of  another  language.  Now,  at 
length  behold  them  returning  a  mighty  nation,  to  claim 
from  the  Canaanites  and  Philistines  the  land  so  long  ago 
promised  to  their  remote  ancestor,  Abram.  God  is  not 
forgetful  of  His  promise,  as  this  vast  multitude  proclaims 
to  the  world,  though  He  seems  to  wait ;  but  His  purposes 
must  ripen,  and  with  the  Almighty  a  day  is  as  a  thou 
sand  years,  and  a  thousand  years  as  one  day. 

ISTow  behold,  my  dear  father,  a  new  manifestation  of 
His  glory  and  power,  and  the  awful  majesty  of  His  judg 
ments,  before  whom  no  man  can  stand  and  live !  The 
next  day,  being  the  seventh,  whereon  a  divine  tradition 
ordains  rest,  but  which  in  their  bondage  could  not  be 
regarded,  Moses  and  Aaron  commanded  the  whole  host 
to  repose.  Thus  time  was  given  Pharaoh,  not  only  to 
hear  the  report, — as  he  did  by  some  Egyptians  who, 
in  dread  of  the  wilderness,  went  back, — of  their  being 
shut  in  by  the  craggy  mountains,  with  the  sea  before 
them, — but  to  arm  and  to  pursue  and  destroy  them,  or 
compel  them  to  submit  again  to  his  yoke. 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  581 

1  have  learned  from  an  officer  of  Pharaoh,  who,  fear 
ing  God,  escaped  from  the  palace,  and  came  and  in 
formed  Moses  of  the  king's  purposes,  that  when  the  news 
reached  the  king,  who  had  been  three  days  bitterly  re 
penting  his  compliance  with  the  demands  of  Moses,  he 
sprang  from  the  table  at  which  he  sat,  and,  with  a  great 
oath  by  his  gods,  cried — 

"They  are  entangled  between  Pi-hahiroth  and  the 
sea !  They  have  played  me  false,  and  are  not  gone  by 
Etham  into  the  desert  to  sacrifice  !  Their  God  has  be 
wildered  them  in  the  Valley  of  Rocks  by  the  sea !  Now, 
by  the  life  of  Osiris,  I  will  np  and  pursue  them!"  He 
called  all  his  lords  and  officers,  and  gave  commands  to 
send  couriers  to  the  army  already  assembled  at  Bubas- 
tis,  and  expecting  to  march  against  the  king  of  Edom, 
who  had  long  menaced  Egypt.  He  ordered  this  army 
to  hasten,  by  forced  marches,  to  the  plain  before  On. 
He  then  sent  to  the  city,  where  he  kept  his  six  hun 
dred  chosen  chariots  of  war,  for  them  to  be  harnessed, 
and  meet  him  the  next  day  before  Eaamses.  Couriers 
on  fleet  horses  were  sent  to  every  garrison,  arid  all 
the  chariots  in  other  cities,  and  in  the  three  treasure- 
cities,  to  the  number  of  four  thousand  charioteers,  each 
with  his  armed  soldier,  gathered  on  the  plain  which 
the  Israelites  had  left  four  days  before.  The  forty-seven 
fortresses  of  the  provinces  sent  forth  their  garrisons,  of 
three  and  four  hundred  men  each,  to  swell  the  Egyptian 
hosts. 

All  this  intelligence  reached  Moses ;  but  he  remained 
immovable  in  his  camp,  the  Pillar  of  Fire  also  standing 
in  the  air  above  the  tent  of  Aaron,  in  which  was  the 
sarcophagus  ot  Prince  Joseph.  Messenger  after  mes- 


582  THE    PILLAR   OF    FIRE,    OR 

senger,  sometimes  an  Egyptian  friendly  to  the  Israelites, 
sometimes  an  Israelite  who  had  been  detained  and  did 
not  leave  Egypt  with  his  brethren,  came  to  Moses,  and 
as  they  passed  through  the  camp,  gave  up  their  news  to 
the  people. 

One  man  said  Pharaoh  had  left  his  palace,  armed  in 
full  battle-armor,  and  at  the  head  of  his  body-guard  of 
six  hundred  chariots  of  gold  and  ivory,  was  driving  to  the 
plain  of  Raamses.  A  second  messenger  brought  tidings, 
that  the  king's  great  army,  from  the  vicinity  of  Bubas- 
tis  and  Pelusium,  had  passed  On  in  full  march, — seventy 
thousand  foot,  ten  thousand  horsemen,  and  two  thousand 
chariots  of  iron !  A  third  came,  reporting  that  four 
thousand  chariots  had  also  assembled  from  all  parts 
of  Lower  Egypt,  and  that  every  man  was  rallying  to 
the  standard  of  the  king,  to  pursue  the  Hebrews  and 
destroy  them  by  the  edge  of  the  sword.  By  and  by,  a 
fourth  came,  an  escaped  Hebrew,  who  told  that  the  king 
had  marshalled  his  vast  hosts  of  one  hundred  thousand 
foot,  twenty  thousand  horsemen,  nine  thousand  chariots 
of  iron,  besides  his  six  hundred  chosen  chariots  of  his 
body-guard,  and  was  in  full  pursuit  of  the  Israelites  by 
the  way  of  Succoth. 

These  tidings  filled  the  bosoms  of  the  Hebrews  with 
dismay.  They  were  in  no  condition  to  do  battle,  there 
being  among  them  all,  one  only  who  knew  the  use  of 
arms,  which  one  was  Moses ;  who,  with  God  on  his  side, 
was  an  army  in  himself. 

The  Egyptian  army,  marched  all  night,  without  rest 
to  hoof  or  sandal.  Before  the  sun  was  up,  their  ap 
proach  was  made  known  by  the  distant  thunder  of  their 
chariot-wheels,  and  the  tramp  of  their  horses.  At 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  583 

.ength,  when  the  Pillar  of  Fire  was  fading  into  a  white 
cloud,  and  the  snn  rose  brilliantly  over  the  Sea  of  Arabia, 
the  van  of  the  Egyptian  army  became  visible,  advancing 
down  the  inclosed  valley.  When  the  Israelites  beheld 
its  warlike  front,  and  heard  the  clangor  of  war-trumpets 
and  the  deep  roll  of  the  drums,  they  fled  with  fear. 
The  elders  then  hastened,  and,  pale  with  terror  and 
anger,  came  before  Moses,  and  cried  to  him — 

"  Because  there  were  no  graves  in  Egypt,  hast  thou 
taken  us  away  to  die  here  in  the  wilderness  ?  Where 
fore  hast  thou  dealt  thus  with  us  to  carry  us  forth  out  of 
Egypt  ?  Did  we  not,  at  the  first,  tell  thee  in  Egypt,  '  Let 
us  alone,  that  we  may  serve  the  Egyptians?'  for  it  had 
been  better  for  us  to  serve  the  Egyptians,  than  that  we 
should  die  in  the  wilderness." 

Then  Moses  answered  their  tumult,  and  said,  without 
displeasure  visible  in  his  godlike  countenance — 

"  Fear  ye  not !  Stand  still,  and  see  the  salvation  of 
the  Lord,  which  He  will  show  you  to-day !  for  the  Egyp 
tians  whom  ye  have  seen  to-day,  ye  shall  see  them 
again  no  more  forever!  The  Lord  shall  fight  for  you, 
and  ye  shall  hold  your  peace.  Wait  to  see  what  He 
will  do." 

Then  Moses,  with  a  troubled  face,  entered  his  tent, 
and  his  voice  was  heard  by  those  near  by,  calling  upon 
God. 

And  the  Lord  answered  him  from  the  cloud  above 
the  tent — 

"  Why  criest  thou  unto  me  ?   Speak  unto  the  children 

of  Israel  that  they  go  forward !     But  lift  thou  up  thy 

F"d  and  stretch  out  thy  hand  over  the  sea,  and  divide 

., ;  and  the  children  of  Israel  shall  go  on  dry  ground 


584  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

through  the  midst  of  the  sea.  And  behold  Pharaoh, 
(whom  I  withhold  from  nothing  which  he  chooseth  in 
his  hard  heart  to  do,  leaving  him  to  his  own  devices  to 
reap  the  fruit  of  his  own  ways),  he  shall  follow  you 
with  the  Egyptians  into  the  sea!  and  I  will  get  me 
honor  upon  Pharaoh,  and  upon  all  his  host,  npon  his 
chariots  and  npon  his  horsemen.  And  the  Egyptians 
shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord !" 

Then  Moses  came  forth  from  the  tent,  whence  the  voice 
of  the  Lord  had  been  heard  by  all,  both  near  and  afar 
off.  Now,  lo !  the  angel  of  God  in  the  Pillar  of  Cloud, 
as  soon  as  the  armies  of  Israel  began  to  move  forward 
to  the  sea,  removed  from  the  front,  and  went  to  the  rear 
of  the  Hebrew  host,  and  stood  behind  them  in  the  Pillar 
of  Cloud!  Thus,  it  stood  between  the  camp  of  the 
Israelites  and  the  camp  of  the  Egyptians,  so  that 
when  night  came,  the  Israelites,  lying  encamped  on 
the  shore,  had  the  full  splendor  of  its  light ;  while  the 
Egyptians,  to  whom  it  presented  a  wall  of  impenetra 
ble  darkness,  also  encamped,  fearing  to  go  forward  in 
the  unnatural  night  which  enveloped  them.  So  the 
two  hosts  remained  all  night,  neither  moving — the 
Pillar  of  Fire  and  the  Pillar  of  Cloud  between  them, 
creating  day  on  one  side  of  it,  and  tenfold  night  on  the 
other. 

E"ow,  at  the  going  down  of  the  sun,  on  that  day  when 
the  Egyptians  encamped  because  of  the  cloud,  Moses 
had  stretched  forth  his  hand  over  the  sea  by  God's  com 
mand,  and  lo !  there  arose  a  mighty  wind  upon  the  sea, 
rising  from  the  south  and  east ;  and  all  that  night  we 
heard  the  sea  and  waves  roaring,  and  the  hearts  of  Israel 
sunk  within  them  for  fear.  The  Pillar  of  Fire  cast  upon 


ISEAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  585 

the  sea  a,  radiance  like  moonlight,  so  that  we  could  per 
ceive  that  it  was  in  a  great  commotion,  and  that  God 
was  doing  some  great  wonder  in  the  deep.  It  is  said 
that  the  noise  of  the  waves  reached  the  ears  of  Pharaoh, 
and  that  he  at  first  believed  it  was  the  sound  of  the 
tramping  of  the  whole  host  of  the  Israelites,  advancing 
with  their  God  to  give  him  battle  in  the  darkness.  He 
called  his  men  to  arms,  and  tried  to  show  front  of  war  ; 
out  the  shadow  of  the  cloud  between  him  and  the  He- 
Drews,  rendered  it  impossible  for  any  man  to  move 
from  one  place  to  another,  or  to  see  his  fellow. 

At  length  morning  came  to  us,  but  not  to  the  Egyp 
tians,  whose  night  still  continued.  But  what  a  spectacle 
of  sublimity  and  power  we  beheld  !  Before  us,  an  ave 
nue,  broad  enough  for  two  hundred  men  to  march 
abreast,  had  been  cut  by  the  rod  of  God  through  the 
deep  sea,  the  water  of  which  stood  as  a  wall  on  the 
one  side  and  on  the  other,  glittering  like  ice  on  the 
sides  of  the  rocks  of  Libanus,  when  capped  with  his 
snows.  At  this  sight,  the  Hebrew  hosts  raised  a  shout 
of  joy  to  God,  for  they  could  see  that  the  sacred  avenue 
reached  as  far  as  the  eye  could  extend  across  the  sea  ; 
but  so  great  was  the  distance,  that  its  sides  converged  to 
a  point  far  out  from  the  shore,  and  seemed  but  a  hair 
line.  Then  Moses,  lifting  up  his  voice,  commanded  the  \ 
children  of  Israel  to  form  into  companies  and  columns  ' 
of  one  hundred  and  eighty  men  abreast,  and  enter  the 
sea  by  the  way  God  had  opened  for  them.  First  went7 
Aaron  and  the  twelve  elders,  being  one  of  each  tribe, 
who  guarded  the  body  of  Prince  Joseph.  Then  followed 
the  sarcophagus,  drawn  by  twelve  oxen,  one  also  fur 
nished  by  each  tribe.  Then  came  a  hundred  Levites, 


86  THE   PILLAR  OF   FIRE,   OR 

Carrying  all  the  sacred  things  which  the  Hebrews  had 
reserved  in  their  generations.  Now  came  Moses,  lead- 
.ng  the  van  of  the  people  in  column.  I  also  walked 
lear  him.  As  we  descended  the  shore  and  entered  the 
jrystalline  road,  I  marvelled,  yet  had  no  fear,  to  see  the 
walls  of  water,  as  if  congealed  to  ice,  rise  thirty  cubits 
above  our  heads,  firm  as  if  hewn  from  marble,  with  sharp 
edges  at  the  top  catching  and  reflecting  the  sunlight. 
The  bed  of  the  sea  was  hard  and  dry  sand,  smooth  as 
the  paved  avenue  from  Memphis  to  the  pyramids.  All 
day  the  Israelites  marched  in,  and  when  night  came  not 
half  their  vast  column  had  left  the  land.  All  the  while 
the  Pillar  of  Cloud  stood  behind,  in  the  defile  between 
the  Israelites  and  the  Egyptians.  At  length,  in  the  first 
watch  of  the  night,  it  removed,  and  came  and  went  be 
fore  the  Israelites,  throwing  its  beams  forward  along  our 
path  in  the  sea.  Its  disappearance  from  the  rear  re 
moved  also  the  supernatural  darkness  that  enveloped  the 
Egyptians ;  and  when,  by  the  light  of  the  skies,  Pharaoh 
beheld  the  Israelites  in  motion,  he  pursued  with  all  his 
host,  leading  with  his  chariots  his  eager  army.  It  was 
j  ust  light  enough  for  him  to  see  that  his  enemy  was  es 
caping,  but  not  enough  so  to  see  by  what  way ;  but, 
doubtless,  he  suspected  that  they  were  wading  around  the 
mountains  ;  for  great  east  winds  have,  from  time  to  time, 
swept  the  sea  fiere  outward,  so  that  the  water  has  been 
shallow  enough  for  persons  to  make  a  circuitous  ford 
around  the  northern  cliff,  and  come  in  again  upon  the 
same  shore  into  the  desert  above.  Pharaoh  knew  that 
the  wind  had  been  blowing  heavily,  which  he  at  first 
mistook  for  the  Israelites  in  motion,  and  there  is  no  doubt 
that  he  pursued  with  the  idea  that  the  sea,  had  been 


ISRAEL    IN   BONDAGE.  587 

shoaled  by  the  wind,  and  that  they  would  come  out  a 
mile  or  two  on  the  north  side,  and  gain  the  desert  by 
Etham,  and  so  double  the  head  of  the  sea  into  the  pe 
ninsula  of  Horeb.  There  can  be  no  other  reason  assigned 
for  his  pursuit  into  such  a  road  of  God's  power,  unless 
it  was  judicial  madness, — a  hardening  of  his  heart  by  G  od. 
in  punishment  for  his  contumacy  and  opposition  to  His 
will.  Doubtless  this  is  one  way  in  which  God  punishes 
men,  by  making  their  peculiar  sin  the  instrument  of  their 
destruction. 

Pharaoh  and  his  chariots,  and  horsemen,  and  host 
pursued,  and  came  close  upon  the  rear-guard  of  the  Is 
raelites,  against  whom  they  pressed  with  shouts  of  bat 
tle.  The  sea  was  faintly  lighted,  and  the  king  and  the 
Egyptians  did  not  see  the  walls  of  water  which  inclosed 
them,  as  they  rushed  madly  and  blindly  after  their  prey, 
urged  on  by  the  loud  voice  of  Pharaoh.  At  length, 
when  they  were  in  the  midst  of  the  sea,  the  Lord,  in  the 
Pillar  of  Cloud,  suddenly  turned  and  displayed  its  side  of 
dazzling  light  towards  the  astonished  Egyptians  !  By 
its  sunlike  splendor,  Pharaoh  and  his  captains  perceived 
their  peril,  and  the  nature  of  the  dreadful  road  in  which 
they  were  entangled.  The  walls  of  water  on  each  side 
of  them,  say  tne  Israelites  who  were  in  the  rear  and 
saw,  moved  and  swelled,  and  hung  above  them  in  stu 
pendous  scrolls  of  living  water,  upheld  only  by  the  word 
of  God!  The  vivid  light  of  the  shekinah  blinded  their 
eyes,  and  bewildered  their  horses,  and  troubled  the 
whole  host.  All  the  horrors  of  his  situation  were  pre 
sented  to  the  mind  of  the  king.  With  frantic  shouts  to 
his  charioteers  to  turn  back,  he  gave  wild  orders  for  his 
army  to  retreat,  saying — 


588  THE   PILLAR   OF    FIRE,    OR 

"Let  us  flee  from  the  face  of  Israel!  for  the  Lord 
their  God  fighteth  for  them  against  us !" 

Then  followed  a  scene  of  the  most  horrible  confusion. 
The  steady  gaze  upon  them  of  the  Angel  of  the  Lord,  in 
the  cloud  of  fire,  discomfited  them !  They  turned  to  fly  ! 
Their  chariot- wheels  sunk  in  the  deep  clay  which  the 
wagons  of  the  Hebrews  had  cut  up,  and  came  off!  The 
king  leaped  from  his  car,  and,  mounting  a  horse  held 
by  his  armor-bearer,  attempted  to  escape,  when  theJLord 
said  unto  Moses,  who  now  stood  upon  the  Arabian  side 
of  the  sea — 

"  Stretch  out  thine  hand  over  the  sea,  that  the  waters 
may  come  again  upon  the  Egyptians,  upon  their  chariots, 
and  upon  their  horsemen." 

Then  Moses  stretched  forth  his  hand  upon  the  sea,  in 
the  deep  defile  of  which,  cleaved  by  God  for  his  own 
people,  the  Egyptian  hosts,  chariots,  horse  and  foot, 
were  struggling  to  retrace  their  course  to  the  Egyp 
tian  shore,  each  man  battling  with  his  comrade  for 
preference  in  advance.  The  whole  scene,  for  several 
miles  in  the  midst  of  the  sea,  was  a  spectacle  of  terror 
and  despair  such  as  no  war,  no  battle,  nothing  under  the 
skies,  ever  before  presented.  The  shouts  and  cries  of  the 
Egyptians  reached  our  ears  upon  the  shore  with  appall 
ing  distinctness. 

Now  Moses  stretched  forth  his  hand  over  the  sea,  out 
of  the  path  through  which  the  last  of  the  Israelites  were 
coming  forth,  when  the  billows  that  had  been  cloven  by 
the  rod  of  God,  and  made  to  stand  in  two  walls  like 
adamant,  began  to  swell  and  heave,  and  all  at  once  both 
edges  of  this  sea-wall  fell  over  like  twc  mighty  cataracts 
plunging  and  meeting,  roaring  and  rushing  together 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  589 

eacli  into  the  chasm  wherein  the  whole  hjst  of  Pharaoh 
— his  captains,  chariots,  and  horsemen — with  their  faces 
towards  Egypt,  were  struggling  to  escape  from  the  snare 
that  God,  in  His  jnst  vengeance,  had  laid  for  them.  The 
returning  waters  covered  the  whole  host  of  them  before 
our  eyes,  and,  while  we  looked,  the  wild  sea  rolled  its 
huge  waves,  laden  with  death,  above  the  abyss;  and 
then  subsiding,  the  great  sea  once  more  flowed  calmly 
over  the  spot,  and  Pharaoh,  who  had  been  erecting  for 
years  a  majestic  pyramid  to  receive  his  embalmed  body, 
was  buried  by  the  God  whom  he  defied,  beneath  the 
chariots  and  horses  in  which  he  trusted  for  victory  over 
the  sons  of  God. 

This  spectacle  of  God's  power  and  judgment  filled  all 
Israel  with  awe.  Those  who  had  murmured  against 
Moses  sought  his  presence,  nnd  prostrated  themselves 
before  him,  acknowledging  their  fault,  and  asking  him 
to  entreat  God  to  pardon  their  iniquity,  declaring  that 
henceforth  they  would  receive  the  voice  of  Moses  as  the 
voice  of  God. 

That  day  the  Israelites  encamped  on  the  shore ;  and 
all  night  the  waves  cast  upon  the  coast  the  dead  bodies 
of  Pharaoh's  host,  and  chariots  innumerable,  with  their 
stores  of  quivers  of  arrows,  lances,  swords,  and  spears ; 
so  that  the  men  of  Israel,  to  the  number  of  one  hundred 
thousand  chosen  out  of  each  tribe,  save  that  of  Aaron, 
were  armed  from  the  spoils  of  the  dead  soldiers  and 
chariots.  Was  not  this,  also,  the  finger  of  God,  O  my 
father !  The  impression  made  upon  the  minds  of  the 
children  of  Israel,  by  this  wonderful  exhibition  of  the 
power  of  God, — of  His  goodness  to  them  and  His  ven 
geance  upon  Pharaoh, — was  such  that  they  believed 


590  iHE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

God,  and  feared  Him,  and  professed  themselves  ready 
henceforth  to  be  obedient  to  His  voice. 

When  Moses  and  the  children  of  Israel  saw  that  their 
enemies  were  dead,  they  chanted  a  sublime  hymn  of 
praise  and  triumph  to  God  upon  the  shore.  Then  came 
Miriam,  the  sister  of  Aaron,  the  aged  prophetess  of  God, 
bearing  a  timbrel  in  her  hand,  and  followed  by  an  in 
numerable  company  of  maidens  and  daughters  of  Israel, 
each  with  her  timbrel  in  her  hand,  and  singing  songs  of 
joy  and  triumph,  while  the  virgins  danced  before  the 
Lord. 

Now,  my  dear  father,  I  have  brought  my  letters  nearly 
to  a  close.  I  have  recorded  the  most  wonderful  events 
earth  over  saw,  and  displays  of  Divine  power  which  man 
has  never  before  witnessed.  In  contemplating  these 
wonders,  you  will  be  impressed  with  the  terrible  majesty 
of  Goc7,  and  overwhelmed  by  His  greatness.  You  will 
be  stri.ck  with  His  unwavering  devotion  and  care  for 
His  pe  >ple  whom  He  hath  chosen,  and  with  His  unceas 
ing  vengeance  upon  His  enemies,  and  such  as  oppress 
those  whom  He  protects.  You  will  be  awed  and  hum 
bled  with  a  sublime  perception  of  his  limitless  power  in 
the  heavens,  on  earth,  and  in  the  sea ;  and  feel  deeply 
your  own  insignificance  as  a  mere  worm  of  the  dust  in 
His  sight;  and  you  will  cry  with  me,  as  I  beheld  all  these 
manifestations  of  His  glorious  power — 

"  What  is  man  that  thou  art  mindful  of  him,  O  God, 
who  fillest  the  heavens  with  the  immensity  of  Thy  pres 
ence,  and  in  Thine  own  fulness  art  all  in  all  ?" 

From  the  Sea  of  Arabia,  Moses  led  the  armies  of  Israel, 
for  three  encampments,  into  the  wilderness  towards  Ho- 
reb.  Here  was  no  water  but  that  which  was  bitter ;  and 


ISRAEL   IN  BONDAGE.  59] 

the  people  murmuring,  Moses  pacified  them  by  a  miracle. 
Thence  they  came  to  Elim,  where  were  twelve  wells  of 
water  and  seventy  palm-trees,  and  here  we  encamped 
for  some  days.  After  certain  further  wanderings,  we 
came  to  a  wilderness,  just  one  month  after  departing  from 
Egypt,  God,  in  all  that  time,  taking  not  away  the  Pillar  of 
Cloud  by  day  nor  the  Pillar  of  Fire  by  night  from  before 
the  people.  Indeed,  the  whole  journey  was  a  miracle, 
and  attended  by  miracles  ;  for  in  this  wilderness,  Sinn, 
their  provisions  failed,  and  the  people  (who  are  a  per 
verse  and  stiff-necked  people,  forgetful  of  favors  past, 
and  rebellious — as  is  perhaps  natural  to  those  who  have 
been  so  long  in  bondage,  and  find  themselves  now  free), 
murmured,  and  again  blamed  Moses  for  bringing  them 
from  their  fare  of  flesh  and  bread  in  Egypt,  to  die  of 
hunger  in  the  wilderness.  God,  instead  of  raining  fire 
upon  them,  mercifully  and  graciously  rained  bread  from 
heaven  to  feed  them,  returning  their  want  of  faith  in 
Him  with  loving-kindness  and  pardon.  And  not  only 
did  God  send  bread  from  heaven — which  continues  to 
fall  every  morning — but  sent  quails  upon  the  camp,  so 
that  they  covered  the  whole  plain.  The  taste  of  this 
heavenly  bread  is  like  coriander-seed  in  wafers  made 
with  honey.  It  is  white,  is  called  by  the  people  manna, 
and  is  in  quantities  sufficient  for  the  whole  of  them. 
The  camp  thence  moved  forward  and  came  into  the  vale 
of  Horeb,  where  I  had  first  beheld  Moses  standing  by 
his  flock.  Here  there  was  no  water,  and  the  people 
murmured  in  their  thirst,  and  again  blamed  Moses  for 
bringing  them  out  of  Egypt  into  that  wilderness,  not 
remembering  the  mighty  deliverance  at  the  Sea  of  Ara 
bia,  nor  the  manna,  nor  the  quails.  At  the  first  obstacle 


592  THE   PILLAR   OF    FIRE,    OR 

or  privation,  they  would  ever  cry  out  against  Moses,  who, 
one  day,  exclaimed  to  his  God,  in  his  perplexity— 

"  What  shall  I  do  to  this  people  ?  They  are  almost 
ready  to  stone  me  !" 

Then  the  Lord  commanded  him  to  take  his  rod  and 
strike  the  rock  in  Horeb.  He  did  so,  and  the  water 
gushed  forth  in  a  mighty  torrent,  cool  and  clear,  and 
ran  like  a  river,  winding  through  all  the  camp. 

We  are  now  encamped  before  Horeb.  From  this 
mountain  God  has  given,  amid  thunders,  and  lightnings, 
and  earthquakes,  His  laws  to  His  people,  by  which  they 
are  to  walk  in  order  to  please  Him.  They  are  ten  in 
number :  four  relating  to  their  duty  to  Him,  and  the 
remaining  six  to  their  duty  to  one  another.  It  would 
be  impossible,  my  dear  father,  for  me  to  describe  to  you 
the  awful  aspect  of  Horeb,  when  God  came  down  upon 
it,  hidden  from  the  eye  of  Israel  in  a  thick  cloud,  with 
the  thunders,  and  lightnings,  and  the  voice  of  the  trum 
pet  of  God  exceeding  loud,  so  that  all  the  camp  trembled 
for  dread  and  fear.  Nor  could  I  give  you  any  idea  ol 
the  aspect  of  the  Mount  of  God,  from  which  went  up  a 
smoke,  as  the  smoke  of  a  furnace,  for  seven  days  and 
nights,  and  how  the  voice  of  the  trumpet  waxed  louder 
and  louder,  sounding  long  and  with  awful  grandeur 
along  the  skies,  calling  Moses  to  come  up  into  the  mount 
to  receive  His  laws,  while  the  light  of  the  glory  of  the 
Lord  was  like  devouring  fire.  In  obedience  if  the  ter 
rible  voice,  Moses  left  Israel  in  the  plain  and  ascended 
the  mount.  Aaron  and  others  of  the  elders  accompanied 
him  so  near,  that  they  saw  the  pavement  on  which  the 
God  of  Israel  stood.  It  was,  under  His  feet,  as  a  sapphire- 


ISRAEL    IN   BONDAGE.  593 

stone,  and  as  it  were  the  body  of  heaven  in  its  clear 
ness.*  He  was  absent  forty  days.  When  twenty  days 
were  passed  and  they  saw  him  not,  nor  knew  what  had 
happened  to  him,  the  whole  people  murmured,  became 
alarmed,  believed  that  they  would  never  see  him  again, 
and  resolved  to  return  to  Egypt  if  they  could  find  a 
leader.  Aaron  refused  to  go  back  with  them ;  but  at 
length  they  compelled  him  to  consent,  if  in  seven  days 
Moses  returned  not.  At  the  end  of  this  period  they 
called  Aaron  and  shouted  : 

"  Up !      Choose   us   a   captain   to   lead   us  back   to 

Egypt-" 

But  Aaron  answered  that  he  would  not  hearken  to 
them,  and  bade  them  wait  for  Moses. 

Then  came  a  company  of  a  thousand  men,  all  armed, 
and  said : 

"  Up  !  make  us  gods  which  shall  go  before  us  !  As 
for  this  Moses,  we  wot  not  has  become  of  him." 

At  length  Aaron,  no  longer  able  to  refuse,  said — 

"  "What  god  will  ye  have  to  lead  you  ?" 

"  Apis  !  the  god  of  Pharaoh  and  the  Egyptians,  whom 
we  and  our  fathers  worshipped  in  Egypt." 

Then  Aaron  received  from  them  the  jewels  of  gold  they 
had  taken  from  the  Egyptians,  and  cast  them  into  a  fur 
nace,  and  made  an  image  of  the  calf  Serapis,  and  said,  in 
grief,  irony,  and  anger — 

"  This,  and  like  this,  is  thy  god,  O  Israel,  that  brought 
thee  up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt !" 

And  erecting  an  altar  before  this  image,  these  Israel 


's  Exodus,  xxiv.  10. 


594  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE,    OR 

ites,  nc  t  yet  weaned  from  Egyptian  idolatry,  burned  in 
cense  and  sacrificed  before  it,  and  made  a  feast  to  the 
god,  with  music  and  dancing,  as  the  Egyptians  do.  At 
length  Moses  reappeared,  sent  down  from  the  mount  by 
an  indignant  God,  who  beheld  this  extraordinary  return 
to  idolatry.  When  the  holy  prophet  saw  what  was  done, 
he  sternly  rebuked  Aaron,  who  excused  himself  by 
pleading  that  he  was  compelled  to  yield,  and  that  he 
did  so  to  show  them  the  folly  of  trusting  to  such  an  idol, 
after  they  had  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God.  Moses 
took  the  calf  they  had  made,  and  made  Aaron  burn  it 
in  the  fire,  and  he  ground  it  to  powder,  and  made  the 
idolatrous  children  of  Israel  drink  of  the  bitter  and  nau 
seous  draught.  Again  he  rebuked  Aaron,  and  called 
for  all  who  were  on  the  Lord's  side,  when  several  hun 
dreds  of  the  young  men  came  and  stood  by  him.  He 
commanded  them  to  slay  all  who  had  bowed  the  knee 
or  danced  before  the  calf ;  and  in  one  hour  three  thou 
sand  men  were  slain  by  the  sword,  in  expiation  of  their 
sin  against  God. 

Now,  my  dear  father,  my  last  letter  must  be  brought 
to  a  close.  Moses  informs  me  that  the  Lord,  in  punish 
ment  of  this  sin  of  Israel,  will  cause  them  to  wander 
many  years  in  the  wilderness  ere  He  bring  them  to  the 
land  promised  to  their  fathers,  and  will  subject  them  to 
be  harassed  by  enemies  on  all  sides,  some  of  whom 
have  already  attacked  them,  but  were  discomfited  by 
the  courage  of  a  Hebrew  youth,  called  Joshua,  who 
promises  to  become  a  mighty  warrior  and  le'ader  in  Is 
rael,  and  whom  Moses  loves  as  an  own  son. 

In  view,  therefore,  of  this  long  abode  of  the  children 


ISRAEL    IN   BONDAGE.  595 

of  Israel  in  the  desert,  I  shall  to-morrow  join  a  caravan 
which  will  then  pass  to  the  northward,  on  its  way  into 
Syria  from  Egypt.  It  will  be  with  profound  regret  that 
I  shall  bid  adieu  to  Moses,  to  Aaron,  to  Miriam,  and  all 
the  friends  I  have  found  among  this  wonderful  people. 
Will  not  the  world  watch  from  afar  the  progress  of  this 
army  of  God,  which  has  beheld  the  wonders  by  which 
He.  brought  them  out  of  Egypt?  Doubtless,  ere  this 
you  have  heard,  by  ships  of  Egypt,  of  some  of  the 
mighty  miracles  which  have  devastated  her  cities  and 
plains ;  and  you  will  hear,  ere  this  letter  reaches  you,  of 
the  destruction  of  the  whole  army  of  Egypt,  with  their 
king  Pharaoh-Thothmeses,  in  the  Arabian  Sea. 

Farewell,  my  dear  father ;  in  a  few  weeks  I  shall 
embrace  you.  We  will  then  talk  of  the  majesty,  and 
power,  and  glory  of  the  God  of  Israel,  and  learn  to  fear 
Him ;  to  love,  obey,  and  serve  Him, — remembering  His 
judgments  upon  Pharaoh,  and  also  upon  His  chosen 
people  Israel  when  they  forgot  Him ;  and,  that  as  He 
dealt  with  nations,  so  will  He  deal  with  individuals ! 
Obedience,  with  unquestioned  submission  in  awe  and 
love  to  this  great  and  holy  God,  our  august  Creator,  is 
the  only  path  of  peace  and  happiness  for  kings  or  sub 
jects;  and  the  only  security  for  admission,  after  death, 
into  His  divine  heaven  above,  "  whither,"  saith  His  holy 
servant  Moses,  "all  men  will  ultimately  ascend,  who 
faithfully  serve  Him  on  earth  ;  while  those  who,  like 
Pharaoh-Thothmeses,  despise  Him  and  His  power,  will 
be  banished  forever  from  His  celestial  presence  into  the 
shades  below,  doomed  there  to  endure  woes  that  know  no 
termination,  through  the  cycles  of  the  everlasting  ages," 


596  THE   PILLAR   OF   FIRE. 

Farewell,  my  dear  father ;  may  the  Pillar  of  Cloud  be 
our  guide  by  day,  and  the  Pillar  of  Fire  by  night,  in  the 
wilderness  of  this  world !  "With  prayer  to  God  to  bring 
me  in  safety  to  you,  and  to  guard  you  in  health  until  I 
see  your  face  again, 

I  am  your  ever  affectionate  son, 

REMESES,  PKINCE  OF  DAMASCUS. 


APPENDIX. 


A  FEW  WORDS  TO  THE  EGYPTIAN  STUDENT  AND  10  THE 
CRITIC. 

THERE  are  necessary,  perhaps,  a  few  words  to  show  that  the  author 
of  the  preceding  book  has  not  arbitrarily  employed  facts,  and  made  use 
of  traditions  to  suit  a  certain  series  of  hypothetical  events  ;  but  has 
been  controlled  strictly  by  authorities. 

Scholars,  versed  in  Egyptian  archaeology,  will  do  the  author  justice  in 
the  plan  and  execution  of  his  work  ;  for  minds,  enriched  with  true 
erudition,  upon  the  history  of  the  land  where  his  scenes  are  placed,  will 
not  only  understand  the  difficulties  which  a  writer  has  to  contend  with, 
but  appreciate  what  he  has  done.  Captious  criticism  will,  of  course, 
hold  itself  wholly  independent  of  facts ;  while  hypercriticism  must  be 
suffered  to  show  its  quasi  erudition.  To  fair  and  manly  scholastic  criti 
cism,  whether  from  theological  scholars,  or  students  in  the  "  learning  of 
the  Egyptians,"  the  work  is  open;  and  the  author  will  be  grateful  to 
any  judicious  and  respectable  scholar  who  will  kindly  point  out  errors- 
proving  them  to  be  such. 

The  reader  of  Egyptian  history  is  aware  that  but  little  reliance  can 
be  placed  on  the  assigned  length  of  periods,  which  furnish  us  with 
neither  names  nor  facts,  nor  reliable  monuments  ;  because  at  this  day 
we  have  no  control  over  the  fictions  and  errors  of  historians.  To  carry 
up  to  the  first  century  of  history  a  connected  chain  of  authentic  chro 
nology  is  not  yet  possible. 

We  have  given  due  credit  to  MANETHO'S  statements,  but  have  little 
confidence  in  many  of  his  alleged  facts,  vouched  as  they  are  by  JOSE- 
PHUS  and  HERODOTUS.  The  late  discoveries  by  CHAMPOLLION  le  Jeune, 
BUNSEN,  Dr.  YOUNG,  LEPSIUS,  and  others,  with  the  revelations  of  actual 
historical  inscriptions,  have  rendered  the  books  of  these  hitherto  uni 
versally  quoted  writers  nearly  obsolete.  The  traveller  of  to-day,  who 
visits  Egypt  and  can  read  hieroglyph,  knows  more  of  the  history  of 
Egypt  than  MANETHO,  JOSEPHUS,  DIODORUS,  HERODOTUS,  STRABO,  or  any  01 
the  cis-Pharaoic  writers  thereupon.  As  revelations  are  made  from  time 
to  time,  we  have  to  change  our  dates,  revise  our  "  facts,' '  and  reform 
our  whole  history  of  the  past  of  Egypt,  both  in  its  chronology  and  dy 
nasties.  In  this  work  we  have  availed  ourselves  of  the  latest  discover 
ies,  down  to  those  of  last  year,  by  the  celebrated  French  savant,  M. 
AUGUSTE  MARIETTE,  whose  discoveries  have,  until  recently  been  made 
known  only  to  the  Academy  of  Sciences,  France,  in  modest  and  unpre 
tending  reports  of  his  scientific  researches. 

As  we  have  very  thoroughly  gone  over  the  ground  of  Egyptian  archse- 
ology,  both  in  its  scientific  and  theological  relations,  we  are  aware  from 
what  quarters  attacks  will  be  likely  to  coine,  if  this  book  is  honored  by 


598  APPENDIX. 


the  notice  of  scholars.  But  to  such,  we  beg  leave  to  say  that,  while  we 
may  not  have  formed  our  work  on  the  plan  their  views  would  have  sug 
gested,  we  have  done  so  on  a  plan  which  is  defensible  |  for  there*  are 
several  schools  of  interpretation  of  chronology  and  dynasty  ;  and  as  we 
have  chosen  to  abide  by  one  of  them  alone,  we  are  ready  to  defend  our 
positici,  so  far  as  may  be  necessary  to  prove  that  we  are  not  ignorant 
of  the  subject  we  have  attempted  to  illustrate. 

The  impartial  scholar  will  see  that  we  have  endeavored  to  combine 
the  different,  and  often  conflicting  statements  and  opinions  of  the 
mythology  of  Egypt,  and  to  present  a  system  which  should  represent 
the  belief  of  the  Egyptian  people  at  the  time  ;  and  out  of  confusion  to 
create  order. 

In  writing  a  book,  the  time  of  which  is  placed  anterior  to  the  language 
in  which  it  is  written,  and  even  to  the  Greek  and  Roman,  there  is  of 
necessity  the  use  of  terms,  which  in  one  sense  are  anachronisms,  unless 
one  actually  makes  use  of  the  vernacular  of  the  Egyptians.  For  in 
stance,  the  Greek  form  of  names  of  gods  and  men,  is  often  adopted  in 
stead  of  the  Misric,  the  use  of  which  would  be  unintelligible  pedantry  : 
therefore,  Apollo,  Hercules,  Venus,  Isis,  and  Mars,  are  often  written  in 
our  pages  instead  of  the  Egyptian  names. 

In  order  to  show  the  general  reader  the  variety  allowable  in  Egyptian 
names  and  dynasties,  as  well  as  chronology,  we  will  append  a  few  ex 
amples  : 

According  to  one  writer  on  Egypt,  it  was  Amenophis  who  was  lost  in 
the  Red  Sea.  According  to  another,  it  was  Thothmes  III. ;  to  another, 
Thothmes  IV.  |  and  to  still  another,  Amos  1. 1  and  to  another,  Osis ! 

Amuthosis  is  called  by  KENRICK  (ii.  p.  154),  Misphragmuthosis. 
Thothmes  is  also  called  Thothmeses  and  other  variations.  Osiris  has 
many  titles  and  many  legends,  but  we  have  adopted  the  popular  one  in 
Egypt. 

Sesostris  is  called  Ositasen,  Osokron,  Remeses,  and  other  names, 
according  to  the  interpretation  of  his  cartouches,  and  other  inscriptions. 

The  pyramid  of  Chephren  is  called  also  Chafre,  Chephres,  Cephren, 
and  other  designations,  while  Cheops  has  half  a  dozen  appellations.  A 
writer,  therefore,  who  seeks  to  present  an  intelligible  view  of  the 
manners,  customs,  religion,  and  polity  of  the  ancient  Egyptians  must 
decide  what  authority  and  what  path  he  will  follow  ;  and  having  chosen 
each,  he  should  pursue  it  undeviatingly  to  its  close.  This  we  have  tried 
to  do  ;  and  while  those  who  might  have  selected  a  different  one  may, 
perhaps,  not  coincide  with  our  judgment,  they  will  at  least  have  the 
candor  to  acknowledge  that  we.  are  as  much  entitled,  as  scholars,  to 
respect  in  the  choice  we  have  made,  as  if  we  had  made  one  in  harmony 
with  their  own  peculiar  views. 

The  question  of  "dynasty"  has  presented  singular  difficulties;  but 
we  have  mainly  followed  NOLAN  and  SEYFFARTH,  leaving  their  guidance, 
however,  when,  our  own  judgment  dictated  a  deviation  from  their  views. 
When  some  chronologers  of  the  highest  character  place  the  birth  of 
Moses  1572,  B.C.  (vide  NOLAN),  others  1947  (vide  SEYFJARTH),  others 
2100  years,  others  1460,  it  is  necessary  that  a  writer,  whose  book  re 
quires  a  fixed  date,  should  make  a  decision.  We  have,  after  careful 
consideration  oi  the  whole  ground,  adopted  the  era  which  we  believe  to 
be  the  true  one.  The  confusion  attending  the  adjustment  of  the  Pha- 
raoic  dynasties  to  their  true  time,  is  well  known  to  scholars,  and  ad- 


APPENDIX.  599 

mitted  by  all  except  those  who  have  advanced  figures  of  their  own,  and 
expect  Egyptian  Chronology  henceforth  to  be  construed  by  them  alone. 
NOLAN  (vide  Book  IV.,  Sect,  iv.),  has  presented  to  our  minds  the  clearest 
exposition  of  the  question  5  and  we  have  followed,  very  closely,  his 
table  of  the  dynasty  of  the  Pharaohs  between  the  eras  of  Joseph  and 
the  Exodus. 

The  Biblical  scholar  need  not  be  informed  that  Moses  was  forty  years 
of  age  before  he  interested  himself  openly  in  the  Hebrews.  Egyptian 
history  (see  NOLAN)  shows  that  in  his  thirty-fifth  year,  the  queen- 
mother,  Pharaoh's  daughter,  die,',  and  was  succeeded  by  Mceris  ;  and  as 
the  Scriptures  are  silent,  as  to  thi  occupation  and  place  of  Moses  in  the 
interval,  we  are  justifiable  in  placing  him  out  of  Egypt,  during  the  six 
years  that  followed,  as  we  have  done. 

We  desire  here  to  acknowledge  our  indebtedness  to  the  following 
aul  tors,  whose  works,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  we  have  consulted, 
and  from  which  we  have  made  use  of  such  parts  as  served  our  purpose  ; 
and  ^ot  wishing  to  burden  our  pages  with  notes  and  references,  we 
here  make  our  grateful  acknowledgments  to  them,  and  recognition  of 
their  works  : 

G.  SEYFFARTH,  A.  M.,  Ph.  D.,  D.  D.,  seriatim,  especially,  "  Observations  Egyptiorum 
Astronomiose,  et  Hireroglyphice  descriptae  in  Zodiaco,"  &c.,  &c. — Leipz. 

"The  Egyptian  Chronology  Analyzed;'1  by  FREDERICK  NOLAN,  LL.  D.,  F.  R.  S. — 
London. 

"  The  Monuments  of  Egypt  and  Voyage  tip  the  Nile ;"  edited  by  FRANCIS  L.  HAWKS, 
D.  D.,  LL.  D. 

"Ancient  Egypt  under  the  Pharaohs;"  by  JOHN  KENRICK,  M.  A.  A  work  which 
presents  at  one  view  the  most  complete  illustrations  of  Egypt  extant. 

To  SIR  GARDINER  WILKINSON,  D.  C.  L.,  F.  R.  S.,  &c.,  the  writer  is  indebted  for  much 
information  respecting  details  of  art,  society,  and  customs. 

"  The  Philosophy  of  the  Plan  of  Salvation  ;"  edited  by  Professor  0.  E.  STOWE,  D.  D., 
by  an  anonymous  author. 

Dr.  MAX  UHLEMANN'S  writings  on  Egyptian  antiquities. 

Rt  Rev.  BISHOP  WAINWRIGUT'S  "Land  of  Bondage." 

MILLS'  "  Ancient  Hebrews." 

LEPSIUS'  "Discoveries  in  Egypt,  Ethiopia,"  &c.,  and  this  eminent  author's  other 
valuable  writings  upon  Egyptian  archaeology  and  antiquities. 

STANLEY'S  "Sinai  and  Palestine." 

HENGSTENBERG'S  "  Egypt  and  the  Books  of  Moses  Illustrated  by  he  Monuments  of 
Egypt." 

Col.  HOWARD  VISE  on  the  Pyramids. 

J.  A.  ST.  JOHN'S  "Egypt  and  Nubia;"  London,  1845. 

"  Antiquities  of  Egypt ;"  London,  Rel.  Tr.  Soc.,  1841. 

ROSSKLLINI'S  works. 

BURTON'S  "  Excerpta  Hierogl." 

J.  C.  NOTT,  M.  D.,  Mobile,  to  whose  courtesy  the  author  is  indebted  for  sereral 
valuable  works  illustrating  ancient  Egypt. 

VON  BOHLEN  (Petrus). 

BIRCH,  Roy-Soc.  Lit. 

"  Description  de  TEgypte,"  pendant  ''Expedition  de  TArmfec  "^rancaise,  1826. 

LESUEUR,  "  Chron.  des  Rois  d'Egypte." 

Dr.  ROBINSON'S  very  valuable  researches. 

BUNSEN'S  "  Egypten"  and  other  writings,  seriatim. 

'  DENON'S  Voyage." 


000  APPENDIX. 


HERODOTUS,  SOCRATES,  DIODOEUS,  STRABO,  FLINT,  PTOLEMY,  ERATOSTHENES,  PLIT- 
TABCH,  and  other  Greek  and  classic  authors  who  have  written  upon  Egypt,  have  been 
made  use  of  by  the  author  as  sources  of  information,  and  adopted  as  authorities  so  far 
as  subsequent  monumental  revelations  have  not  lessened  the  weight  of  their  testimony. 

We  are  also  under  obligations  to  Professor  HENRY  S.  OSBORN,  for  the  aid  afforded  in  the 
Phoenician  portion  of  our  book,  by  his  recently  published  work,  "  Palestine,  Past  and 
Present,"  with  "Biblical,  Literary,  and  Scientific  Notes;"  one  of  the  most  valuable  and 
interesting  books  of  travel  and  research  which  has  appeared  for  many  years,  on  the 
East:  Challen  &  Son,  Phil.,  1859. 

Besides  the  above,  we  have  availed  ourselves  of  numerous  sources  of 
information  accessible  to  the  Egyptian  student,  to  enumerate  which 
would  extend  this  note  to  a  catalogue. 

We  have  sought  in  the  foregoing  work,  to  illustrate  and  delineate 
events  of  the  Old  Testament,  as  in  the  "Prince  of  the  House  of  David" 
the  New,  so  that  they  should  "  come  home  with  a  new  power,"  to  make 
use  of  the  language  of  another.  '•  to  those  who  by  long  familiarity  have 
lost,  as  it  were,  the  vividness  of  the  reality,"  and  bring  out  their  out 
lines  so  as  to  convey  to  the  mind  of  the  reader  a  more  complete  realiza 
tion  of  scenes  which  seem  to  be  but  imperfectly  apprehended  by  the 
general  reader  of  the  historical  parts  of  the  Old  Testament.  The  work 
is  written,  not  for  scholars  nor  men  learned  in  Egyptian  lore  ;  it  ad 
vances  nothing  new  ;  but  simply  offers  in  a  new  dress  that  which  is  old. 
The  writer  will  have  accomplished  his  object,  "if  his  book,"  to  quote 
the  words  of  Mr.  STANLEY,  in  his  preface  to  "  Sinai  and  Palestine,"  •'  brings 
any  one  with  fresh  interest  to  the  threshold  of  the  divine  story  '  of  the 
Exodus,'  which  has  many  approaches,  and  which,  the  more  it  is  explored, 
the  more  it  reveals  of  poetry,  life,  and  instruction,  such  as  has  fallen  to 
the  lot  of  no  other  history  in  the  world.' ' 

The  intention  of  the  author  in  writing  these  works  on  Scripture  nar 
ratives  is  to  draw  the  attention  of  those  persons  who  do  not  read  the 
Bible,  or  who  read  it  carelessly,  to  the  wonderful  events  it  records,  as 
well  as  the  divine  doctrines  it  teaches  ;  and  to  tempt  them  to  seek  the 
inspired  sources  from  which  he  mainly  draws  his  facts. 

The  author's  plan  embraces  three  works  of  equal  size.  They  cover 
the  three  great  eras  of  Hebrew  history,  viz. :  its  beginning,  at  the  Exo 
dus  ;  its  culmination,  as  'in  the  reigns  of  David  and  Solomon ;  its  de 
cline,  as  in  the  day  of  Our  Lord's  incarnation. 

J.  H.  I. 


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